The children annoy John, making it impossible for him to speak with his dying mother. When Linda wakes from a soma dream and mistakes her son for Pope, John’s misery turns to fury. At the moment of death, Linda’s terrified eyes seem a reproach to her son. John leaves the […]
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The chapter ends with a phone call for John with the news that his mother is dying. Analysis In this chapter, Lenina determines to approach John for sex directly, rather than continuing to wait for him to take her. In her attempted seduction, Lenina uncovers a disturbingly violent side to […]
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Meeting with John and Bernard, Helmholtz reads an anti-social poem he has composed. This reading inspires John to read Shakespeare aloud. Helmholtz’s initial delight at the poetic language turns to laughter and ridicule when Shakespeare’s ideas about love and sex clash with Helmholtz’s own social conditioning. Analysis John’s preference for […]
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Bernard suddenly finds himself popular because all upper-caste London wants to see John the Savage. Bernard boasts to Helmholtz about his sexual conquests and lectures Mustapha Mond in a report — offending both of them. John, meanwhile, experiences a growing disillusionment with this “Brave New World” (as he quotes Shakespeare). […]
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When Bernard arrives, the D.H.C. announces in front of everyone his intention to transfer Bernard to a “Sub-Centre of the lowest order.” The D.H.C. explains that Bernard has “grossly betrayed the trust imposed in him” — and that his unorthodox attitudes and behavior threaten Society. Bernard responds by bringing in […]
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During Bernard’s trip, John breaks into the Rest House, thinking that Bernard and Lenina have left for London without him. Inside, John discovers Lenina’s suitcase and looks through her clothes — including her zippicamiknicks. When John finds Lenina fast asleep, he thinks of Shakespeare’s Juliet. He reaches out to touch […]
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John’s earliest memories involve his mother’s relationships with Indian men — especially Pope, who also introduces Linda to the powerful hallucinogenic drug mescal (which she finds similar to soma). John also remembers how the Indian women beat Linda, because she felt no sexual restraints with their men. As John grows, […]
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Lenina soon discovers that she has forgotten her soma, so she must experience the Indian village of Malpais as an unmedicated reality. In quick succession, she and Bernard witness old age in the figure of an ancient Indian, Indian mothers nursing their babies, and a hedonistic ritual dance that fuses […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 7Summary and Analysis Chapter 6
In a flashback to their first date, Lenina and Bernard quarrel when he hovers their helicopter over the English Channel so that they can observe the power of Nature. Bernard wants an adult — and emotional — relationship with Lenina, not just the mindless sex that consummates their first date. […]
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They fly to Westminster Abbey Cabaret, where they dance the evening away to the Malthusian Blues. Despite the soma they consume, Lenina remembers her contraception in preparation for a night of pneumatic sex. The second half of the chapter follows Bernard as he flies past the chiming Big Henry — […]
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