Bernard Marx is one of the main characters in the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Bernard is viewed as an outsider by his peers, and it is rumoured that the worker who was in charge of his bottle put some alcohol in it by mistake, owing to Bernard's abnormally short height and 'ugly' features. Brave New World is a dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley, first published in 1932. ... Aldous Leonard Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963) was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. ...

Members of the higher castes are conditioned to dislike the shorter lower castes and this places Bernard in a grey area — he is an Alpha-Plus, but is not quite part of the Alpha-Plus set. This has probably led to some of his other peculiarities. He does not enjoy the drug soma or the "feelies", chooses to spend time alone, and is not promiscuous. In addition, Bernard harbours a kind of dissatisfaction with some aspects of the society and tends to be unsociable and aloof towards his more hedonistic peers. Despite his somewhat negative qualities, Bernard is profoundly intelligent and a bit philosophical. Alpha Plus is the highest level of caste in Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. ... Soma is a fictional, happiness-inducing drug in Aldous Huxleys novel Brave New World (1932). ...

It has been suggested that his name is a crude amalgamation of George Bernard Shaw and Karl Marx. To some extent he acts as the novel's false protagonist, being the major 'outcast' in the novel until this role is replaced largely by John the Savage. After John appears, Bernard becomes accepted as a hero, and he attempts to become promiscuous and take soma, thus becoming more fully integrated into his society. George Bernard Shaw (born 26 July 1856, Dublin, Ireland died November 2, 1950, Hertfordshire, England) was an Irish writer. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883, London) was a German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... In film, television, or literature, a false protagonist is a technique for making a scene more jarring or a character more notable. ... John the Savage is a character in Aldous Huxleys dystopian satire, Brave New World. ...

Also, Bernards's isolation is amplified early in the book when he attends a meeting for people to "become one." At this meeting 12 people take soma and become one with Ford (the man who started this idea of conformity, the book is set in A.F. 642, A.F. meaning after Ford). However, Bernard feels no effect from the soma and can only focus on one woman's unibrow.