"You can't teach a rhinoceros tricks.... Some men are almost rhinoceroses; they don't respond properly to conditioning. Poor devils!" pg 88
I've heard men being compared to animals many of times, but never to a rhino. I wasn't aware that rhinoceroses couldn't be tamed. The commonly used "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" has been distorted just as the Brave New World is distorted. Oddly enough, Bernard cannot be taught to be less gentlemanly, and that is why he's frowned upon. In both worlds, however, some men just are not gonna be the popular hero. It's a rough life for Bernard, but he just isn't seen as something special and it's impossible to change him. It's convenient though, because Bernard's emotional state is just as foreign to me as the rhinoceros analogy. Poor Bernard, with emotions and (dare I say) a soul, will never know what it's like to take Lenina unless he changes from a rhinoceros to a pig.
No comments:
Post a Comment