Taken in the context of the chapter of Brave New
World and the paragraph that it is in, this sentence is very significant.
For, it points to the character flaws of Bernard Marx. While he understands that there
are aspects of his society that are deserving of criticism, he wishes for the adulation
of people and the attention that his bringing of John to the New World has brought him.
In short, Bernard is a hypocrite:
Success went fizzily to Bernard's head and in
the process reconciled him (as any good intoxicant should) to a world which, up till
then, he had found very unstisfactory. In so far as it recognized him as important, the
order of things was good. But, reconciled by his success, he yet refused to forego the
privilege of criticizing this order. For the act of criticizing heightened his sense of
importance, made him feel larger. Moreover, he did genuinely believe that there were
things to criticize. (At the same time, he genuinely liked being a success and having
all the girls he
wanted.)
Clearly, Huxley is
satirizing the man who fancies himself a "free-thinker" when he actually is subservient
to a system; he only pretends at criticizing, performing it so he can "feel larger." In
addition, Bernard's character also supports the flaws to the utopian system since he
does not follow the design of his character. In contrast to him, Helmholtz Watson is
truly an independent thinker.
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