Describe how Bernard initially does not conform to the expectations for his caste system and explain how his view of social conformity changes over the course of the story.

Despite all of his social conditioning Bernard is short and physically inadequate for the status of Alpha-Plus, and therefore has an inferiority complex. Other characters believe that he may have accidentally received a dose of alcohol while in the fetal stages. He is more independent thinking because of feeling separate from society. Bernard initially rejects the precepts of society. When he brings John Savage to "civilization" Bernard falls into the same "disease" of external validation and sexual consumption that he once maligned.