Brave New World CH 6-9 Response – Allen R

I think these chapters are finally where the plot actually starts moving and gets interesting for me. We now see Bernard in a troubling situation where he might potentially be exiled to Iceland because of his actions. I also thought it was really cool to see someone rebel against this society and the director like how Bernard did. As Bernard asks permission to go into the Reservation, the Director recalls a time when he went there and met a moment but lost her. Bernard says you must have had a terrible shock and i think it is here where Bernard takes a jab at him.  I also think this is also a part where we see a hint of the director’s weakness. In page 95 the directors says, “Don’t imagine, that I’d had any indecorous relation wit the girl. Nothing emotional, nothing long drawn, It was all perfectly healthy and normal. Furious with himself for having given away a discreditable secret, he vented his rage on Bernard.” Perhaps the director still has some “emotion” left in him or in other words, his old self before this society came to be. This part also makes me question if Bernard will use this information against the Director is some kind of rebellion. In these chapters, the soma was talked about a lot. During their trip to the Reservation, Lenina keeps urging Bernard to take some soma to calm himself down. It seems that soma is very important to this new society, like a new drug that calms you down. It calms Bernard down to the point where he is comfortable enough to have sex with Lenina. There was also a point in these chapters where Bernard learning a part of the Directors past may have backfired on him. He calls Helmholtz only to find out that the director stayed true to his words of sending him to Iceland. In page 100, you can see how depressed Bernard turns in a instant, from feeling rebellious, to scared. In the middle of the page it says, “What? He’s looking out for some one to take my place? Bernard’s voice was agonized. So it’s actually decided? Did he mention Iceland? You say he did? Ford! Iceland… He hung up on the receiver and turned back to Lenina. His face was pale, his expression utterly dejected.” You can see how slowly his feelings change from being anxious, to being scared.

I thought it got really interesting when Bernard finds the little boy John in the Reservation. He learns that his father is really the Director in the world State. I think this is a crucial moment in the book because it seems like no one else knows about the Director having a son and in this time, is a disgrace. It also seems like Bernard plans to take John back to the World State in order to disgrace the director. To me it seems like this is revenge for Bernard for being exiled to Iceland by the director. It is also introduced again in these chapters where having babies naturally is seen as inhumane. Linda, John’s mother, did not want to go back to the world state because she felt disgraced for having a baby.

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