In his satirizing of Bernard Marx, Huxley shows how quickly people throw away their attempts to be authentic as soon as people start treating them as of "outstanding importance." When Bernard talks with Helmholtz of his female conquests and growing popularity now that so many are after John, Helmholtz listens to his boasting "in a silence so gloomily disapproving that Bernard was offended":
"You're envious," he said.
Helmholtz shook his head. "I'm rather sad, that's all," he answered.
Bernard went off in a huff. never, he told himself, never would he speak to Helmholtz again.
The man who was insulted by the Director's lewd talk of Lenina now has many female partners now, himself. The man who wished to look at nature and enjoy the stars, now exploits the natural man, John. The man who wished to talk and have a meaningful conversation now engages in sex with multiple, meaningless partners. Helmholtz finds this behavior of Bernard unauthentic and hypocritical since Bernard does genuinely believe that there are things to criticize.
However, Bernard is no Helmholtz. He is weak; he secretly has always desired to be accepted and respected, instead of having people whisper behind his back about the alcohol that was accidentally put into his incubating tube. Bernard is also deluded:
Intoxicated, he was behaving as though, at the very least, he were a visiting World Controller. Lighter than air.
In his delusion, he writes to Mustpha Mond, lecturing about the "Savage." The idea of Bernard's lecturing to him, gives Mond an idea about which he laughs. Here, indeed, is foreshadowing of the demise of Bernard.
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