“Three charming girls from the Bureaux of Porpaganda by Synthetic Voice waulaid him as he stepped out of the lift.
'Oh, Helmholtz, darling, do come and have a picnic supper with us on Exmoor.' They clung round him imploringly.
He shook his head, he pushed his way through them.
'No, no.'
'We're not inviting any other man.'
But Helmoltz remained unshaken even by this delightful promise. 'No,' he repeated, 'I'm busy.' And he held resolutely on his course. The girls trailed after him. It was not till he had actually climbed into Bernard's plane and slammed the door that they gave up pursuit. Not without reproaches.”(BNW p.68)
This quote clearly portrays Helmholtz's arrogance and feeling of superiority in his society. It is evident that he has the ability to think for himself and decide whether or not he thinks something is right unlike the others in the community. Having the ability to decide whether or not something is right make it easy to argue that Helmholtz's has a conscience. All those characteristics that I briefly mentioned about Helmholtz are evidence of individualism.
So, what's wrong with that? Well, in a society where “Community, Identity, [and] Stability”(BNW p.3) are important, individualism can lead to someone questioning the way of life. That in turn opens the eyes of others in the community. This can lead to a coup d'etat resulting in a new society in which people believe in individualism and now longer live up to “Community, Identity, [and] Stability”(BNW p.3). In societies as these, Helmholtz could be considered as too smart for his ability to think freely weakens the power that the set government has on him.
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I agree with you that in his society to be unlike everyone else is very dangerous for Helmholtz. He can start a coup d'etat and end up causing his death. I don't nesecerally think that he is arrogant. He stands out from his society's perspective but not in ours. A lot of people are starting to think what is right and what is wrong in our society. I think Huxley made Helmholtz the way he is to make us understand how society would be if we were ignorant and didn't have a mind of our own. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Helmholtz is thinking about moral issues of right and wrong here? What makes you think so?
ReplyDeleteOr is he just following his instincts...?
I don't necesarilly think in this case that Helmholtz is thinking of moral issues. Although he thinks unlike most of the people in BNW. It seems like their mind is barely developing, therefore they don't completely do everything on purpose.
ReplyDeleteI believe Helmholtz is definitely superior and way too intelligent for his society. His ability to think above the system of his society is a threat to stability. That alone makes him a target by the government and can be dangerous to all others if he is not suppressed. It's better to make one suffer before he corrupts all the others.
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