"He laughed, 'Yes, Everybody's happy nowadays. We begin giving the children that at five. But wouldn't you like to be free to be happy in some other way, Lenina? In your own way, for example; not in everybody else's way.'"
(pg. 91)
Huxley utilizes a rhetorical question to further develop Bernard Marx's ideas about happiness and the current state of their world. In his conversation with Lenina, he strongly voices his "radical" ideas about how he wants to be free to like what he chooses rather than what he is conditioned to like. This quote marks a key turning point in creating what appears to be the protagonist of the story who seems to fight against the universal conformity. Marx is recognized to be the outcast in his world in both his appearance and his thinking. The reader can develop a connection with Bernard because he represents the views of the society in which the reader lives. However, though the views we have on society align with those of Bernard Marx, they are virtually nonexistant in any other character in the book. Will Bernard try to change the world around him back to a society where individuals are free, or will he remain passive throughout the story and even come to accept conformity? I am very interested to see how the author will incorporate Marx's contrasting views into the plot.
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