Helmholtz Watson, a handsome, intellectual man, serves as a foil to Bernard Marx, an man isolated from society because of his small size. Both Helmholtz and Bernard are disappointed with society for different reasons. Helmholtz is dissatisfied with the superficiality of the World State culture while Bernard is displeased with the way he doesn't fit in. Helmholtz also recognizes that his writing talents are going to waste on the hypnopaedic phrases he is forced to write; he feels that the morals of the World State are too shallow to write anything meaningful about (Huxley 158).
Helmholtz can also be a identified as a foil to John. There are many similarities between them, such as their mutual love of poetry and intense dissatisfaction with the World State, but Helmholtz is still not able to completely understand him because of the massive differences between their cultures. This is shown through John's reading of Romeo and Juliet. Although Helmholtz admires Shakespeare's writing, he still finds the idea of marriage and family absurd because this is what he is conditioned to think (Huxley 128). Even though Helmholtz is probably one of the most intelligent people of the World State, he still is unable to completely relate to John, who believes in the principles of monogamy and families.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Electronic.
No comments:
Post a Comment