Brave New World Chapters 6- 9

This week’s reading was in chapters 6 – 9. The first few chapters was like a roller coaster ride to me first I didn’t like it then I liked it, but now after reading these few chapters I’m still suck in limbo. Lenina and Bernard went to visit a savage reservation and I must admit I believe these people to be savages. Not because of the way Lenina and Bernard may think of them of savages, but because of the way they treat Linda and John. The beginning of chapter eight and all throughout the chapter the natives treat Linda and John so horribly because they are different. “Linda was on the bed. One of the women was holding her wrists. Another was lying across her legs so she couldn’t kick. The third was hitting her with a whip. Once, twice, three times; each time Linda screamed……. He caught hold of the woman’s enormous brown hand between his own and bit with all his might. She cried out wrenched her hand free, and gave him such a push that he fell down. While he was lying on the ground she hit him two or three times with the whip” ( Huxley page 118) That to me is disgusting, savage behavior. Whatever the reason, there is no excuse for three grown women to hold down another and physically assault her like an animal. Then to hit her child who was only defending his mother from their physical assault, is even more appalling. I find them to be savage creatures, I couldn’t even call them human beings. On page 127 they throw rocks at John making him to bleed very bad all because he wanted to participate in the ritual and they wouldn’t let him because he was different. These men criticize him because they think of his mother as whore, but these are the same men who go to his mother night after night. I find their behavior as well as their wives to unacceptable and savage and in the context of this story I’m glad that they live on reservations away from civilized people.

Chapter nine is very short chapter. Bernard has something cooking up his sleeve. He’s making arrangement for John and Linda to come back to London with them, and he’s on the phone with Mustapha Mond and he tells him ” I venture to think that your fordship might find the matter of sufficient scientific interest….” (Huxley page 132). The questions I have is, is Bernard bringing both Linda and John back to be studied like some specimens?  Is he playing a social experiment with them? For example can they assimilate back into civilized culture after bing around savages for so long? The beginning chapters I liked Bernard but the more and more I find out about him, I find him to be a rather sneaky person and I don’t that at all.  Towards the end of the chapter I’m curious to know what exactly was John plans with the sleeping Lenina? Was he planning on sexually assaulting her?

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