Brave New World - Chapter Summaries

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sexual games Students are shocked to learn that such erotic play seemed abnormal in the time before Ford. • Mustapha Mond lectures on history and its suppression recalls a world from being ravaged by anthrax bombs and poison gases in the Nine Years' War until the "choice between World Control and destruction." soma, the ubiquitous drug of choice, brought an end to worry, while "stability" proved to be the key to social control • The montage becomes more surrealistic → it fuses Ford and Freud, listens in on Lenina talking with Fanny, and introduces Bernard Marx. CHAPTER 4 in an elevator Lenina sees Bernard She wants to talk with him about their planned trip to New Mexico, but he seems hesitant. In fact, Bernard wants to express his feelings to her, but when he tries, Lenina fails to notice. She's late for a date with Henry Foster. • As Lenina and Henry take off in their helicopter for the date, their trip offers a panoramic view of London and its suburbs. It unfolds as a miniature version of this futuristic world. • Bernard, who feels inadequate. Although an Alpha Plus → worries over his short stature feels like a social "outsider" • Bernard flies to Propaganda House to meet his friend, Helmholtz Watson, who writes state propaganda as an Emotional Engineer., • He, too, feels "all alone," → "too much ability." = kinship with Bernard the knowledge they share that they are "individuals." CHAPTER 5 • Lenina and Henry take off in their helicopter when the Obstacle Golf Course closes • As they discuss death and "phosphorus recovery" Lenina reveals her class prejudices. • They fly to Westminster Abbey Cabaret, where they dance the evening away to the Malthusian Blues. • They consume soma & Lenina remembers her contraception in preparation for a night of pneumatic sex. Bernard flies past the chiming Big Henry to the Fordson Community Singery => he participates in a kind of religious service that includes numerous rituals Under the influence of soma, the ceremony results into an orgy = Bernard feels only more isolated in his "separateness" CHAPTER 6 • Lenina worries about Bernard's eccentric desire for privacy and his habit to question basic social assumptions He submits his travel permit to the D.H.C., who remembers his own holiday many years earlier to the Savage Reservation The D.H.C. tells Bernard about the young woman he took on his trip and disappeared during their stay disappointed in Bernard's odd behaviour outside work & threatens to exile him to Iceland • B later tells this to his Helmholtz B and Lenina fly to Sante Fe, where they meet with the Warden of the Reservation → • The Warden leers at Lenina and describes the Reservation • Bernard remembers that he left the tap running at home • calls Helmholtz → Watson says the D.H.C. intends to exile him to Iceland • L persuades him to take soma to calm himself CHAPTER 7 With their Indian guide, Bernard and Lenina enter the Savage Reservation. L has forgotten her soma, so she must experience the Indian village of Malpais as an unmedicated reality. She and B witness Indian fused with Christian rituals including sacrifice B and L meet a blue-eyed young man dressed as an Indian. He tells them that his mother comes from the "Other Place." He mentions, his father was named "Tomakin,"→ B connects this young man with the D.H.C.'s visit to the Reservation. • The young savage introduces them to his mother, who tells L and B her strange story of being abducted by the Indians • She has spent much of her life on the Reservation, she explains, where she gave birth to her son, John, the young savage. CHAPTER 8 • John recounts his life on the Reservation to B. ● B feels as if he and John "were living on different planets, in different centuries." ● • John's earliest memories involve his mother's relationships with Indian men Popé, who also introduces her to the hallucinogenic drug mescal • J remembers the Indian women beating Linda, because she felt no sexual restraints with their men. • As J grows, Linda teaches him to read and the young boy studies it Shakespeare → inspires him to try to kill Popé • In adolescence, J cannot undergo the initiation ritual into adult Indian society → J goes out alone into the wilderness, where he faces physical trials to enter adulthood. Self-torture gives him a vision of "Time and Death and God." he and B realize, they share the same feelings of being "terribly alone." → B invites J and Linda to return with him to London CHAPTER 9 • Lenina takes a soma-holiday B makes the arrangements to bring John and Linda back to London • He flies to Sante Fe, where he calls Mustapha Mond asking permission & meets with the Warden. During B's trip, J breaks into the Rest House, thinking that B and Lenina have left for London without him J discovers Lenina's suitcase and looks through her clothes • He finds Lenina asleep → He reaches out to touch her but stops himself, thinking: "Detestable thought!" J retreats when he hears B's returning helicopter. CHAPTER 10 • At the Bloomsbury Centre, the D.H.C. waits with Henry Foster to humiliate B. He plans to confront Bernard publicly B arrives, the D.H.C. announces his want to transfer B to a "Sub- Centre of the lowest order", because B has "grossly betrayed the trust imposed in him" & his attitudes & behaviour threaten Society B responds by bringing in Linda, whose appearance astonishes the spectators • She recognizes D.H.C. as her "Tomikin" & tells him he caused her to have a baby J enters and calls D.H.C. "father" • Laughter breaks out → D.H.C. rushes from the room. CHAPTER 11 • D.H.C. has resigned & Linda has slipped into a permanent soma- holiday • She is taking growing dosages → eventually lead to her death. • B is popular because all upper-caste London wants to see J • B brags to Helmholtz about his sexual conquests and lectures Mustapha Mond in a report offends both of them. J experiences a growing disillusionment & vomits during a tour of a Fordian factory & finds on his visit to Eton the library contains no Shakespeare He goes on a date with Lenina to a feely, which he compares unfavourably to Othello. • J disappoints L, dropping her off without staying for sex He feels unworthy of her, while she is confused and frustrated. CHAPTER 12 • Disgusted with the brave new world, J refuses to attend a party for the Arch Community Singster of Canterbury → embarrasses B & destroys his newly won popularity. • Meeting with J and B, Helmholtz reads an anti-social poem he has composed J reads Shakespeare aloud Helmholtz's delight turns to ridicule when Shakespeare's ideas about love and sex clash with Helmholtz's own social conditioning. CHAPTER 13 • Frustrated by J's shyness, Lenina determines to take the sexual lead • J addresses her with the formality of Malpais tradition and Shakespearean poetry . confused, L simply undresses and approaches. Horrified by L's sexual freedom, → John pushes her away, L retreats in fear. Phone call for J⇒ his mother is dying. CHAPTER 14 J goes to the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying to be with Linda at her death Delta children stay among the beds → learn to view death as pleasant/useful The children annoy J, making it impossible for him to speak with his mother Linda wakes from a soma dream & mistakes him for Popé J is furious • Linda dies John leaves the hospital angry CHAPTER 15 J sees Deltas lining up for their soma ration in the hospital vestibule → J calls to them to give up the drug • hey fail to respond → J takes the soma & throws it out the window = riot among the Deltas. B and Helmholtz arrive to save J & become involved in the riot the police come, they arrest the three men CHAPTER 16 • They are submitted to the judgment of Mustapha Mond. • they discuss the reasons for social control • Mond banishes B and Helmholtz to the Falkland Islands • B panics, but Helmholtz accepts the new life, far from the pressures of conformity CHAPTER 17 Mond and J discuss the brave new world & the absence of God • J expresses his disgust at the ease of living in a society where science and conditioning abolish all frustrations • Mond argues that J is claiming "the right" to be unhappy • J's accepts the horrors of sickness, poverty, and fear • Mond's answers "You're welcome" CHAPTER 18 B prepares to leave with Helmholtz for the Falklands J makes plans to retreat to a place of his own, far from society In a lighthouse outside London, J undergoes purification for "eating civilization." Torturing himself, J strives to exorcise the guilt he feels for Linda's death and his horror of sex with Lenina. • Crowds intrude on his privacy • Lenina approaches him → John attacks her with a whip A riot breaks out & turns into an orgy. J awakens the next day, groggy from soma, and realizes what has happened he kills himself. SOURCES https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/b/brave-new-world/book- summary https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bravenew/ The book