Brave New World: Linda Misfit Essay, Research Paper

Misfit Times Two

In many literary works there is often a character who stands out as a misfit from the society in which the live in. This character is often looked down upon by the rest of society due to their appearance, beliefs, and, or actions. Looking at Aldous Huxley s Brave New World, one can see a clear example of this, in Linda. Linda is such a clear example of this because she is not just an outcast in one society, but in two. Linda, a Beta, or member of the second highest class in the World State, due to certain circumstances is forced to live on a savage reservation for twenty years. There she becomes a misfit, due to her previous teachings; and then is considered a misfit once she returns to the World State, because of the changes she has gone through during her time on the reservation. So, Linda is a misfit in both her original society, and her adopted society.

On the Savage Reservation, where Linda is forced to stay because of the fact that while there on a trip, she gave birth to a child, which is greatly frowned upon in the World State, she quickly finds herself an outcast among the other women. This is because on the Reservation, people still partake in the ceremony of marriage, which is unheard of in the society that Linda is accustomed to. In fact, in Linda s previous society, that of the World State, women freely sleep with whoever they want. So, seeing no fault in her ways Linda soon sleeps with the husbands of the other women on the Reservation. This is such a clear example of Linda being a misfit on the Reservation because not only does she outrage the women of the Reservation, they actually physically beat her because of her actions. Also, on the reservation, the people their take place in religious practices and belief in god, which is all very strange to Linda, because she has never believed in religion or god and was taught that their was no reason to belief in god. Again, this obviously makes Linda even more of a misfit in the Reservation society because again her beliefs and values are not only completely different from that of the savages of the Reservation, but in fact in direct contrast to them. So, by looking at the simple yet enormous differences in the beliefs and value of Linda and the savages, it is easy to understand why she is clearly a misfit among them.

When Linda first lived in the World State, she was a model citizen and definitely not a misfit; however, after her return to her home world, after twenty years on the Reservation, she was anything but the model citizen. One of her most difficult obstacles from re-entering society was the fact that she was a mother. In the World State there are no such things as parents, and the very mention of the word often causes citizens to display childish laughter at the very thought of it. This alone would cause Linda to be classified as a misfit in the World State society, but there are also many other factors, which lead to this. For example, on the Reservation there were no high-tech devices to keep people looking beautiful and young, so in compared to the people of the World State, Linda looks very old and ugly. This physical factor, like the fact that she is a mother again casts her as an outcast in World Sate society. So, because she is a mother, because her values have changed and because she physically looks very different from any other citizens in the World State, she is a misfit among them.

In conclusion, Linda is not only the classic example of a misfit in a literary work, but a classic misfit times two. She is a misfit in the World State because of her actions of having a child and for her appearance and she is a misfit on the Reservation because of her vastly different beliefs and values. All of these properties that she displays are all the essential building blocks of a misfit of society. Similar to the characters in other literary works who are looked down upon by the rest of their society due to their appearance, beliefs, and, or actions.