Brave new world Chapters 12-15
Chapters 12-15
Lenina has trouble not thinking about John, she becomes distracted in her work and even yells at Henry Foster when he tries to make conversation with her. Fanny's advice is clear in this matter, Lenina should simply visit John and have him. John is surprised to discover that Lenina has made her way to him. Lenina makes herself comfortable and John quotes Shakespeare and begins explaining how he wishes to do something that would make her see that he was worthy of her. Lenina is confused by the things that John talks about but she believes that she understands him when he confesses to her that he loves her, and Lenina throws herself at him and begins to undress. John is completely taken aback at this and is determined to not have his lust sully his honor. His complicated emotions surface as anger, when Lenina steps out of their kiss, she doesn't see John anymore but a stranger transformed with rage. He calls her a whore, and is physically violent with her, Lenina escapes into the bathroom. John is soon called away by a phone call, and Lenina only comes out of the bathroom once John has left.
John arrives at the hospital for the dying and finds brightly colored hearses leaving for the crematorium. John surprises the nurse by asking if there was any way to save Linda, and by being upset at her passing. Linda lies on her bed, with a faint smile playing on her sleep, as she moves in and out of sleep. John takes her hand and he is moved by all the memories they have shared, he sheds a tear for his dying mother but his grief is interrupted by a large group of Bokanovskied children. The children are being death conditioned, and they immediately head towards Linda, due to her unique appearance. John is driven mad by his grief, as well as the nonchalant and disrespectful behavior of the children and he hits one of the children. The nurse leads them away and John tries to return to his memories but fails. He stoops to kiss Linda, and in her Soma stupor, she calls him Pope. John's sadness boils into anger as he grabs hold of his mother's shoulders and begins to shake her, asking her to recognize who he is. Linda begins to have trouble with breathing, and in moments she has suffocated to death. John tries to get the nurse to help her to no benefit. John falls to his knees and sobs for the loss of his mother, while the nurse watches him disapprovingly and directs the children away to prevent them from gaining such a poor impression of death.
John finds himself inside a hall full of Bokanovsky twins that staff the hospital, they are being supplied with their daily Soma ration. John feels as if he is in a nightmare, surrounded by people with the same faces. He feels compelled to make the people understand what freedom and manhood mean. He grabs a hold of the Soma ration and begins to throw it out of the window. Bernard and Helmholtz had been waiting for John at home, they were all supposed to go out for dinner together, but Bernard receives a call from the hospital, and he along with Helmholtz rushes to the hospital.
They find John throwing away the Soma and passionately calling on the khaki-clad staff to come to their senses, to realize that they were slaves and that Soma was poison. The workers turn violent and attack John, who keeps throwing out the Soma while he fights off those that charge at him, and Helmholtz joins him as well. Together, they hold off the many twins while Bernard stands on the sidelines battling indecision. Soon the police rush in, and they subdue the rioting workers with a machine that pumps out a cloud of Soma and a synthetic music apparatus that plays an anti-riot recording. Soon the crowd is brought under control, Helmholtz and John are taken into custody while Bernard tries to escape but he too is taken by the police.
Analysis
The disconnect between John and Lenina becomes evident when Lenina visits John. The civilized society has no place for honor and nobility, virtues that John wishes to exemplify to feel worthy of being with Lenina. For her, the confession of love from John essentially means sex, and so she disrobes and attempts to be intimate with him. John is angered by this behavior, and he has harbored this anger for his mother who was herself very promiscuous throughout her life. In the moment of her nakedness, Lenina has transformed herself to represent all that he hates about his mother.
The treatment of Linda's death is also interesting, how the Nurse reacts to John's grief demonstrates the disregard for the individual. In her mind, John's loss should not be a hindrance for the important work of conditioning children to have a positive view of death.
