Characterization of Helmholtz
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley uses indirect characterization to show how Helmholtz Watson is the literal "Alpha male" of his society, which is ironic because he is also an Alpha in his society. In the beginning of the story, Helmholtz is friends with Bernard. They casually strike up conversations about philosophy and other things that they think about whenever they are alone together. Through these conversations and how Bernard acts in other parts of the story, we end up feeling almost as if Helmholtz is the better half of Bernard Marx. While Bernard and him share ideas, they don't share much else. In the book, it says Bernard and Helmholtz are: "Yes, a little too able; they were right. A mental excess had produced in Helmholtz Watson effects very similar to those which, in Bernard Marx, were the result of a physical defect. Too little bone and brawn had isolated Bernard from his fellow men, and the sense of this apartness, being, by all the current standards, a mental excess, became in its turn a cause of wider separation." For example, Bernard is frantic about his ideas, almost panicked, while on the flip side, Helmholtz is calm and collective about the thoughts he has. He seems to have thought about what they talk about a lot more than Bernard and he is able to put his thoughts into better words. He is also the better half based on the fact that Helmholtz is described as more attractive and taller. Helmholtz is also confident about his thoughts and seems as if he would be willing to back them up with actions instead of just run around saying his thoughts like Bernard does. Although this is shown constantly throughout the book I thought it was best shown towards the end, when the leader of their society is telling Bernard and Helmholtz they will be sent off to an island of their choice because of the actions they had committed before. When Bernard starts begging the head of the society not to send him to an Island, Helmholtz keeps calm, and actually looks on the positive side of being sent away to somewhere where there are few people and bad weather. Helmholtz says that those conditions might actually free his mind and allow him to create better literature. While it sort of seems like Helmholtz has no backbone either, it seems as if he is happy to finally leave the society he hates, or perhaps he was just like everyone else. One of the biggest parts of how Huxley conveys Helmholtz's personality is how he speaks and reacts to things. Also, having Bernard act as a sort of "opposite reaction" we can clearly see and be able to describe the two men's personalities and how they differ from one another in very drastic ways. In a way they almost balance each other out, and give the reader something to use as a tool of comparison of the two very similar, but also very different, characters.