Brave New World: Favorites

[Scheherazade]

Who is your favorite character in Brave New World and why? What is your favorite passage/quote in the play?




Brave New World online copy (http://www.online-literature.com/aldous_huxley/brave_new_world/)

Character List (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bravenew/characters.html)



Book Club Rules (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4104)

[Jay]

Haven't finished reading it yet but as far it's John, I'll vote when I finish the book but I doubt there's gonna be someone else to 'threaten' his position :p

[Snukes]

I wonder how likely people are to equate "favorite" with "most like me?"

(Not just for this book, but in general. Rhetorical question!)

[Snukes]

Oh right. My favorite.

I voted for the Director, but then I realized I was confused and meant, in fact, the Controller (who wasn't a poll option anyway). Oops, sorry.

I like the Controller, because of all the characters, he seems to be the most honest (with himself and others). He knows the score, he knows where he stands, he knows Shakespeare, and he's still a bastard. Hehe.

I'll refrain from commenting on the others just yet. No favorite quotes, really either, since I wasn't thinking about it as I read. I may go back and peruse later...

[Scheherazade]

Mustapha Mond is the Controller.

[Bandini]

Love Huxley. Tried reading a biography 'Aldous Huxley: An English Intellectual' and couldn't get past the early years! Can't bring myself to skip to the later (probably more interesting) stuff, so have put it aside for now. Probably not in the mood because I just read a weighty D.H. Lawrence. Did anyone ever read any of his essays? 'Brave New World Revisited' is a fascinating and prescient collection of his writing. A must read. Years since I read 'Brave New World' so I can't really give a favourite quote - I'm just going to open the novel at random and choose a segment I like.

"...pale as death, pale with the posthumous whiteness of marble."

[Snukes]

Damn. I fail. And I only fininshed the book a couple weeks ago. Well... no way to change my vote, I suppose?

[SleepyWitch]

I like the Controller, because of all the characters, he seems to be the most honest (with himself and others). He knows the score, he knows where he stands, he knows Shakespeare, and he's still a bastard. Hehe.


same for me :)
i like the Savage, as well.. i can sympathize with his romanticism, but on the ohter hand i think he's overdoing it a wee little bit and he's definitely not honest with himself... so i'd go for the Controller, even though he's a bastard :)

[imthefoolonthehill]

watson.

he does something about what he believes.

i think he is who huxley sympathised with the most.

[Jay]

After finishing it I'm glad I didn't vote before. I agree with Fool, though not the Hemholtz being Huxley's favourite bit, just because I haven't thought of it like that. I liked Hemholtz for staying true to himself (imho).

I liked John before he went all weird and moved on the hill (was it?).

[Scheherazade]

This was a tough choice as I like some of the characters in this book but none enough to be a favorite.
John - because of his courage to stand up for what he believes.
Lenina - because of her child-like innocence.
The Controller - because of his insight.
Helmholtz - because of his capacity to recognise the failures of the World State Society.

If I have to choose one, though, I will have to go with Helmholtz as he stands up for what he believes and faces the consequences with dignity. One can imagine him being happy while in exile, unlike Bernard and the Controller, who, when offered a choice years ago, opted for being a Controller, rather than following his intellectual pursuits.

I am not sure why I cannot like Savage enough... His inability to be flexible and consider things from Lenina's point of view even for a second has really upset me.

[Miranda]

Well I seem to be the only person so far that voted for Lenina. I know she is a bit dim and doesn't like to face reality (bit like me really) but I like her innocence and the fact that she likes everything to just flow along without anyone getting hurt or feeling pain.

Miranda

[Loki]

I'm surprised only one person (me) went for Bernard. I like the way he's so different, even though he grew up/was conditioned in "Society". After him I like John, and after John Hemholtz.

[Jay]

Bernard was different, yes, but then, after becoming known for something else than his physical appeareance which was different from his 'class' he became just like everyone else from his class, with the difference of his looks. I think most people wouldn't chose him because of his weakness, people usually like strong characters, characters that have something to look up to, not being the ordinary people you get to see on daily basis.

[Loki]

I suppose you're right, Jay...and sure, he does get rather corrupted by all this fame stuff - what with John and all - but I still like him. I have a sort of sympathy with him...John is, in fact, fighting closely with Bernard for 1st place, but there's something about John I can't empathise with (I guess you could say his wildness - no, his religious views :p)...otherwise I like him (John) for being civilised. Civilised! Lol, a civilised savage. Well more civilised, in my view, than all the rest of Society put together...

It's the Shakespeare. ;)

[Taliesin]

Bernard was different, yes, but then, after becoming known for something else than his physical appeareance which was different from his 'class' he became just like everyone else from his class, with the difference of his looks. I think most people wouldn't chose him because of his weakness, people usually like strong characters, characters that have something to look up to, not being the ordinary people you get to see on daily basis.

Well, yes, but it is totally understandable. He had been suffering his whole life in a world where noone suffers, and then there is an option, about what it seems that it could make him happy.
And, oh yes, we guess that power corrupts.
We think that Bernard is our seond favourite, because a) he is very human, and b) even here everyone is picking on him and talking like he is Evilness incarnated just because he is a human and miserable.

[Scheherazade]

I do not like Bernard. It is true that he has suffered because of his looks but he does not learn to sympathise with others... On the contrary, he is pompous and smug... and as soon as he gets the chance, he shows these qualities openly. He is different only because he does not get to enjoy life as much as his other alpha friends. If he were physically up to the expected standard, I expect him to behave worse than those he had contempt for.

I think the quote 'Those who feel themselves despised do well to look despising.' sums him up pretty well...

[Taliesin]

Au contraire, we feel that his pompousness annd smugness is a result of his suffering.
Remember when he is boasting about how many girls he has had and Heimholtz feels disgusted? It is a classical example of a low self-esteem (as are everything else in his smugness and stuff, but this is the brightest example). And if he hadn't been suffering, he wouldn't have a low self-esteem, and wouldn't have been pompous and smug. It is unfair to compare him with Heimholtz who is pshychologically well. Of course Heimholtz is not interested in sex because he could have it as he pleased, contrasting to Bernard, to whom it was a rarity.

If he acted exactly as Heimholtz did, he would be far greater than Heimholtz, as he had much worse starting conditions. Now, his actions were spiritually smaller, which makes them quite equal.