Brave New World Study Guide

Summary and Analysis of Chapters 7-9

Chapter 7

Summary: The Indian guide leads Bernard and Lenina into the Pueblo. They are immediately assaulted by the smells and the sight of two women nursing. Since there is no live birth in their society, Lenina finds the scene disgusting. She then discovers that she forgot her soma, as did Bernard his, and so she is forced to see the village consciously rather than through the veil of the narcotic. Bernard and Lenina are made to watch a ritual dance of sacrifice to the gods Pookong and Jesus. A pile of snakes is made in the center of the Pueblo square and a young man slowly proceeds around the pile. While walking, the young man is whipped, and he eventually falls and dies.

After the ritual they both meet a blond haired man with blue eyes. The Savage (called John by his mother) explains to them that he was born to a woman like Lenina who had been saved by some hunters. Bernard concludes that John Savage's mother must have been the same woman the Director took to the reservation over twenty-five years earlier.

They then meet with Linda, John's mother, and she is overcome with joy at seeing civilized people again. She complains that there is too much dirt, and that she was forced to drink mescal (alcohol) in place of soma. Lenina is disgusted by her, but feels forced to listen. Linda explains that she used to let all the men come to her, as civilized people should, but that all the other women got mad. Linda also describes how hard she struggled to condition John but seemed to fail. She concludes that John spent too much time with the Indians to truly become civilized. She describes the Indian way of life as madness.

Analysis: This scene marks a challenge to both Bernard and Lenina to release their emotions. Since both of them forget to take any soma along, they cannot hide behind the pleasures of the narcotic. For Lenina this marks the first time that she cannot suppress her emotions completely. Thus she breaks down and starts crying when she sees the blood of the young man who is sacrificed.

Huxley wants his characters to view the Indian ritual without the veil of soma so that the madness of the ritual is not obscured. Linda's description of the Indian village as "madness" is actually quite accurate. The tribe worships a hybrid god, Pookong and Jesus. Following this already mad combination is the ritual dance, in which a man sacrifices his life by being whipped to death. The dance is unemotionally carried forth with the exception of Lenina's crying. Her crying is used by Huxley to point out the obvious, namely that it is possible to eradicate emotions and sentiment even without soma. Thus Huxley is making the point that although the cultures are entirely different, both of them require the suppression of emotion.

John Savage is introduced for the first time. He is a hybrid of the two cultures, a man who has been partially conditioned by his mother but raised as an Indian. He does not belong to either culture, and as such can evaluate the relative merits of both. He is an entirely sane individual caught in an insane environment with a mother who is mostly crazy. It is interesting to note that although he is sane, his mother describes him as being mad.

Chapter 8

Summary: Bernard asks John to tell him what it was like growing up in the Indian village. John tells them about how his mother Linda used to have sex with many men. Pope became her steady lover because he brought her mescal (alcohol). At one point Linda was beaten by the women of the village because they were upset that she kept sleeping with their husbands. Following the beating, Linda slapped John because she blamed him for her predicament.

John was taught to read by Linda as he was growing up. Reading became his way of feeling superior to the other boys who used to beat and taunt him. Around his twelfth birthday John received a volume of the Complete Works of Shakespeare. He learned to read the entire volume and was inspired by the fiery passages. At one point he attempted to kill Pope and claims to have been inspired by a verse from Shakespeare.

At fifteen John was taught how to make clay pots by one of the older Indians. Later he was taught how to construct bows and arrows by the same man. However, John was not allowed to enter the kiva, a ritual initiation to make the young boys into men. Instead he was driven from the village by a barrage of stones. This incident highlighted his status as an outsider and led him to feel isolated and alone.

John and Bernard share the fact that they are both isolated within their respective cultures. John tells Bernard that he snuck off once to have the sacred animal dreams that the Indian boys must have, even though the tribe had not let him go with the other boys. It becomes apparent that John experiences everything quite emotionally, diametrically opposed to what each society considers "normal" behavior.

Bernard cleverly invites John to return to England with him, having realized that John could be useful in ensuring that he is not sent to Iceland. Bernard's plan is to use John as a means of blackmailing the Director. John is thrilled to be able to go to England and exclaims, "Oh brave new world" when he hears that Linda will be allowed to come along as well.

Analysis: John, not accepted by the Indian world, is prepared to leave so that the Utopian world can accept him. The reader can see how John is different from the Indian society in his emotional responses. Not only his emotions separate John from the Indians, though. He also embodies certain aspects of the English society as a result of his mother's influence.

John Savage represents a parallel to Bernard in that he has struggled to join society, but been rejected by it. Huxley creates a choice of insanities, the insanity of the Utopia from which Bernard comes or the lunacy of the Indian village. This will remain a central conflict for John, who cannot fit into either society since he is a hybrid of both. However, by taking Bernard's invitation to go to Utopia, John is giving the other world a chance to accept him.

The reader is given John's history to elucidate the life of the Indians and to show how John differs from them. His individuality is affirmed by his ability to relate a history of his life which is substantially different from any other man's. John can be seen as a passionate human being who uses Shakespeare as his emotional guide. It should be obvious at this point that John will be unable to fit into the Utopian society any better than the Indian life. The very fact that he is an emotional being is enough to forever alienate him from the society.

Chapter 9

Summary: Lenina is so overcome by the strange events that she consumes a large amount of soma and falls asleep for nearly 18 hours. Bernard waits until she is asleep and then sneaks off to call His Fordship Mustapha Mond in London to arrange to bring John and Linda back to London. He is given permission and returns to the Reservation to pick them up.

John goes to the house where Bernard and Lenina are staying on the Reservation. Since it is silent he becomes afraid that they have already left. But he peeks in the window and realizes they are still home. John then breaks a window and enters the house. He looks around, plays with Lenina's perfume powder, and finally finds Lenina lying asleep on her bed. He breathes in her scent and is overcome by her beauty. When he hears Bernard's helicopter returning, he leaps out of the window just in time to meet Bernard returning from getting permission from Mustapha.

Analysis: The reader is introduced to several aspects of John's personality. John has convinced himself that he is in love with Lenina, and this chapter expresses his love by the way he looks at her and inhales her perfume. John retains extreme modesty, for when he imagines undressing Lenina he immediately feels ashamed for having impure thoughts.

John's modesty towards Lenina represents a central conflict between the Indian society and the Utopian world. His version of love is strictly that of Shakespeare, and thus his only reference is Romeo and Juliet. John therefore relates his all of emotions to Shakespeare by identifying Lenina in the role of Juliet. This shows how John relies on Shakespeare for his emotional education since Linda was unable to provide him with emotional lessons.