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BNW Chapter 7

BNW Chapter 7. Analysis Notes. At the start of the chapter…. Lenina feigns interest to what the Reservation really is … she’s on soma. The warnings she is being delivered are not effective. The drug is in control of her.

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BNW Chapter 7

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  1. BNW Chapter 7 Analysis Notes

  2. At the start of the chapter… • Lenina feigns interest to what the Reservation really is… she’s on soma. • The warnings she is being delivered are not effective. The drug is in control of her. • This loosely translates to: “Lenina will have a very bad day once she gets on that reservation and sees the world for what it has become.” • Bernard is distracted because he forgot something at home. • Neither will really be prepared.

  3. The Savage Reservation • Will include… • Live birth (what the BNW people call “viviparous”) • An uncontrolled population (people have children as they are ready to have children) • “Savages” that come with religion (specifically, Christianity and totem's), families (with mothers! And fathers!), marriage, etc. • They are FENCED IN (like an animal at the zoo). The fence is electrified. If they attempt to leave, their escape becomes death.

  4. Helmholtz’s News • Bernard didn’t change, and the DHC discovered this. • Bernard’s fate upon returning to London is to be shipped to Iceland.

  5. But how did the DHC learn this? • Bernard just left. What happened? • The world is comprised of childish mentalities. They tell on others to get rewards for doing the right thing. • It could be Helmholtz who turned him in. We can’t prove this, but it is certainly something to consider. EVERYONE is a SUSPECT. EVERYONE is out for THEMSELVES. NO ONE is safe.

  6. Bernard’s sense of “entitlement” • He claims “I’m such an idiot” and that “I always going to change, the DHC didn’t give me a chance.” • It’s unpredictable and the total opposite of the “swagger” and lies we saw Bernard show at the end of Chapter 6. • It’s him being entitled and spoiled.

  7. What we learn in Chapter 7 • Bernard is, without question, a product. • He secretly loves the World State. He can’t admit it to himself, let alone the readers. • That’s why Bernard is so easy to love and hate. He feels, he wants to stand out – but he is just like them. • Bernard is FAKE. While he is treated differently, he only seeks to fit in.

  8. Lenina’s Experience • No soma – she has to endure the “horrors” of the reservation without that aid. • It will cause her to have a violent reaction. It’s gross, it’s scary, it’s diseased, it smells…. It’s all a giant disaster. And one that would immediately cause a citizen to take soma.

  9. BNW Versus the Savage Reservation • Savage Reservation = agrarian (zero to little technology) • BNW = Technological utopia Lenina and Bernard are “designed” to be prejudiced against all they see in this reservation. She will almost immediately claim that she “does not like it”. Once the soma wears off, her conditioning will start to really kick in.

  10. Before we continue, you must remember… • BNW citizens: • Do not age. They look 20 even though they may be physically 60 years old (they die without warning… they may have the body of a 20-year-old, but the heart of a 60-year-old). • Not only the heart of a 60 year old, but a “drug heart”. Drugs cause hearts to expand slowly. They become too big, and work too hard… even while sober. This is based on true findings that Huxley learned about in the 20’s.

  11. Fertility Ritual • Reminds Lenina of a Solidarity Service or Community Song (she sees the religious ties) • Savages crowd together in a town circle, chanting and dancing. • Snakes are placed in the middle, covered in corn meal, and then a young man walks the circle the townspeople as he is whipped continuously.

  12. Fertility Ritual • Flagellation: The more that the boy walks and bleeds, the more the gods will smile upon them and grant them corn for food. • It’s a ritual that proves the boy is a man (he can withstand pain), the boy is religious (he pays his respects to Christ and to his native gods), and offerspenance for the corn to grow.

  13. Meet JOHN SAVAGE • Blonde-haired, blue eyes, bronze colored skin (Caucasian but tanned due to the outdoor lifestyle) • He knows and recites Shakespeare openly • Has never seen a civilized person (Bernard/Lenina)( or at least someone that has light-colored skin, like him.

  14. John’s Story • John’s mother came to the Reservation a long time ago, with a man named “Tomakin”. • She got lost. • She was left behind.

  15. Meeting Linda • Beta minus – got lost and left behind on the Savage Reservation. She has had to live here without soma or the benefits of the World State… • She took the nap with Tomakin. She woke up. She fell and hurt her head. By the time she was able to RECOGNIZE that she was pregnant (remember, child’s mind)… it was too late to abort the child. She becomes too ashamed to go home.

  16. Backtrack… • Who went to the reservation that we know of? • The DHC. • Who was left behind? • A blonde-haired Beta. • What did he assume? • He assumed she died. He always just said that she was “never found”.

  17. Hint, hint… • John is blonde… ironically, just like that long-lost Beta. • John has blue eyes… ironically, just like that of the DHC’s. • Here’s the twist: John is the SON of the long-lost Beta minus girl the DHC left behind… and of the DHC. John is the person who can save/change the World State. IF he can get OUT of the reservation, John is the person who could destroy the power structure.

  18. Linda’s Choice • She stayed behind on the reservation. She was pregnant and incapable of aborting her child. She recognized herself as a monster (the World State would agree!).

  19. Linda doesn’t quite fit in… • Her World State conditioning makes it where she can never fit in on the Reservation… • Believes in sterilization • Doesn’t mend or sew her clothes • Sleeps with the husbands of the tribe members (she thinks being promiscuous is smart… they believe in the sanctity of marriage) John is a comfort and a source of hatred. She hates him for making her a monster and incapable of going home. She loves him for being there for her when no one else was.

  20. What Linda Teaches Us… • She has aged. We learn that you don’t age… they prevent you from aging with medical tactics. • She found a new addiction from her lack of soma – mescaline. • She has a son – and she does have some sort of feelings for him as he is a biological product of hers. But at the same time – she hates him. HE is what prevents her from ever returning. • If she returns… she is a monster. She gave live birth.

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