Brave New World: 6

" 'You can't teach a rhinoceros tricks,' he had explained in his brief and vigorous stule. 'Some men are almost rhinocerouses; they don't respond properly to conditioning" (88).

Bernard Marx is a character that has been described in many ways by many people thus far in the book. In general, he is seen as an odd man who doesn't seem to gel with the rest of society. In this particular quote, an extended metaphor is used to describe Bernard as a rhinocerous through a couple of sentences of explanation after the initial comparison. The purpose of this extended metaphor is to explain why Henry Foster is like a rhinocerous. It is effective because without the additional explanation in the extended metaphor, many readers would not see the resemblance between Bernard Marx and a rhinocerous. Henry Fosters revelation about the similarities between Bernard and a rhinocerous has a great deal of truth to it from what I can tell so far. Bernard's attitude and thought process is very different from the rest of the people we have been introduced to. For example, he is the only one who thinks that it would be better to be free from the society and to be able to act, think, and live individually. He has not taken well to the conditioning and sees it more as an enslavement than a useful method of teaching. Like a rhinocerous, he has not responded to the training. Rhinocerouses can't learn tricks. Bernard Marx can't let himself be happy in a society that tries to condition his mind and body.