Author: Emm (Page 1 of 2)

Death is prominent in Chapter 14, how these contrasting cultures take it is entirely different. Linda is at the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying when John goes to see her. We know what is imminent as the Nurse said that “When somebody’s sent here, there no….(chance of living)” to John but refrained from the latter to not upset him. (page 181) In her final moments, John remembers all the good times he shared with her as well as the overwhelming guilt that he feels; he feels like he caused her death. All the meanwhile a man grieves for loss of his mother, a group of kids who were in the ward for their death conditioning were astonished at the ugly fat woman in bed 20. John is angered that they are even around, disrespecting his time to mourn in peace and bearing witness to such an event. He sees them like maggots swarming on a carcass. The children are amused and somewhat taken back by Linda, which infuriates him. In a blind fury, he makes his way out of the hospital.

This all spills over to John’s denial of such a society that takes soma, death and sex like a walk in the park. To a lesser extent, Hemholtz also realizes his rejection of society. John cries out to crowd of Deltas that soma is “poison to the soul and body”. He is so convinced that everyone is stuck in their own blissful ignorance, he decides to really captivate them the only way he knows how, to throw the soma away. Met with violent opposition in an attempt to liberate these poor fools, Hemholtz joins the fray as John is punching the Deltas from getting the soma. “Ford only helps who help themselves”(pg 194) is what he said when he came to his realization. He too did not want part of this society and that inner power he wanted to unleash; he was doing it there.

Lastly, there is the self hatred of when you become the very thing you hate. John is trying to get used to a life outside of the society by moving to an abandoned lighthouse. He reverts to his old ways of flogging himself to atone for what he has done, from almost having sex with Lenina to Linda’s death. His attempts to live outside of society are thwarted by the interest of the newspapers and then, gawking tourists who come to see ‘The Savage’. He eventually gives in to the torrent of the people who want him to whip himself for their amusement, when they began their Orgy-Porgy singing. “Stupefied by soma, and exhausted by a long-drawn frenzy of sexuality, the Savage lay sleeping in the heather…he lay for a moment….then suddenly remembered- everything” (pg 231) Covering his eyes with disgrace, he proclaims “Oh, my god, my God!” (pg 231) We find out how he deals with this shame when he is found, feet dangling in the lighthouse.

It seems no one is completely conditioned by the human construct of a “perfect society” that has taken hold of humankind in the story. Bernard’s visit to the D.H.C to obtain his initials for a permit to travel to a savage reservation was rather peculiar. Interested with the location destination, the Director recalled when he went there with a woman he was familiar with. Even though she went missing and was never found, he quietly admits that he still dreams about that fateful night. He quickly recollects himself and shrugs off the feelings, and proceeds to warn Bernard for his behavior outside of work. The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning has a subconscious feeling about that night that he won’t admit to himself or anyone else for that matter. The Director knows about fear and despair, even losing someone you can say meant something to him.

Secrets are somewhat kept as part of the human nature. When Bernard and Linda see the public sacrifice, they meet a man named John. John is not like the others due to a light complexion. John’s backstory intrigues Bernard as a man named Tomakin is John’s father. Coincidentally, Linda (John’s mother) had ended up in the New Mexico reservation because she had suffered a fall that hurt her head. She is from “The Other Side” but lives here with a son born from a man named Tomakin. Bernard quickly puts two and two together to realize that he is the Director’s son, for his name is Thomas. However, Bernard doesn’t share this information with Lenina. Why is he withholding this information? Is it for an advantage to up-stand the Director since he was warned he would be transferred to Iceland? What are his motives?

The feeling of being immersed into a culture other than your own can be daunting for some people, so much so, people will seek means of coping. Lenina is horrified by this feeling; she cannot grasp why people live differently. Albeit, the public whipping was a bit excessive, everything from the smell to Linda’s appearance appears to scare or disgust her. Lenina’s way to cope is to swallow 3 grams of soma and knock out for a long period of time. The conditioning, it seems makes, her blissfully ignorant of the world at large. She is so acclimated to a life of order, soma and conventional sex that seeing a new way of life is as if though she was looking at aliens.

“Can’t you see? Can’t you see?… Bokanovsky’s Process is one of the major instruments of social stability!” (page 7) This is what the Director claims as he takes a group of young students through the hatching and conditioning center. During this tour, the D.H.C explains some of the values that society has embodied in this story. One is conformity through the Bokanovsky’s Process, one single embryo can hatch 96 identical twins, with some exceptions being in the tens of thousands. Embryos are placed in caste systems before they are even “born”, ranging from Alpha to Epsilon, everyone has a place. It is known as Identity, because in this society, ‘you really know where you are.’ You were made to a job that is fitting to your size, in this case, your caste. It’s influence even determines what color you wear as a member of your caste.

When we’re introduced to some of the characters in the story like Lenina, Bernard and Henry, it becomes clear that wearing uniform clothing and performing a specific job doesn’t make everyone a drone. Lenina is conflicted with her feelings about Henry Foster and how that reflects upon the society’s views on relationships that last for a significant amount of time. Here, sex is as casual as taking a walk in a park. They believed that monogamy and marriage were restrictions on which human nature will instinctively break. Lenina feels differently because she has only been with Henry Foster for the past four months. She believes in monogamous relationships, but she buries this passion by conforming to the hypnopaedic saying, “Everyone belong to everyone else”. Bernard is also another character in conflict (man vs society), for he seems more aware of his individuality than most. He doesn’t agree with the societal norm of sex, although he wishes he can get women as easily as his colleague Hemholtz. He doesn’t take the soma that everyone has in their pockets like mints. He is aware of the effects of hypnopaedic training (being a specialist in the field) and even is displeased at hearing other people repeat those sayings. He knows he doesn’t fit in and now wonders where he would, as does Hemholtz. “What the two men shared was the knowledge that they were individuals” (pg 67)