Brave new world Chapters 16-18
Chapters 16-18
John, Helmholtz, and Bernard are all taken to the study of Mustapha Mond, while the other two are almost relaxed, Bernard feels extremely worried. Mustapha Mond walks in, greets them all, and questions John about his dislike for civilization. John agrees that he does indeed dislike it, although there are certain parts of it that he enjoyed, and Mustapha quotes Shakespeare to him. John is very taken aback at finally finding someone who has read Shakespeare, and questions the Controller about why the works were banned. Mustapha explains that Shakespeare was old, and high art was one of the sacrifices that were made for the sake of a stable society. A society in which everyone only desired what they got, where there was no room for passion and no room for tragedy.
John compares Othello to the movie that he had watched with Lenina and believes it to be a lot more inferior than Othello. Helmholtz agrees with John, and they both question Mustapha about why they couldn't write something like Othello that was new. Mustapha explained that if they were to write something like Othello, no one would understand it, and if they wrote something new, then it couldn't possibly be Othello. John finds that the reality of the society leaves much to be desired, and Mustapha agrees, he believes that happiness will always look less worthy of a struggle-filled existence. John counters that the condition of the lower castes could hardly be considered to be happy and that a better society might be forged if there were only Alpha humans.
The Controller cites the example of Cyprus, where an experiment for an exclusively Alpha population was conducted. The government of the Alpha society collapsed quickly and resulted in a civil war that saw the death of nearly everyone on the island. He also discusses with them the conditions of the working castes, how they were assigned work for their happiness and not for any ulterior profit. The working hours were kept long for the benefit of the workers, and although they could synthesize all the food that was required very easily in a lab, still a third of the population was kept in agriculture for the sake of stability and happiness.
Lastly, Mustapha Mond informs them of his past as a physicist, and his discovery that science too had to be sacrificed for the benefit of society. Even though society always propagated science as an important component, it was always tightly controlled and Mustapha himself had rebelled against that sentiment and begun to pursue true science. At that time, he was given a choice, to either pursue a role in the World Controller Council or be sent off to an island, just as he was about to send Bernard and Helmholtz. Mustapha explains that the Islands were inhabited by people that had become too individualized to fit into society, and there they could continue to pursue whatever they wished. He could have gone to the Islands and continued his pursuit of the truth, but he chose to remain and worked on creating happiness in society. Mustapha asks Helmholtz what kind of island he'd like to be exiled to, and Helmholtz requests one with lots of storms and rain, so that he may be able to write better. Helmholtz then leaves John and Mustapha alone.
Mustapha and John are left alone to speak, Mustapha informs John that religion was another sacrifice that had to be made for the sake of a civilized society. Mustapha then quotes a cardinal and philosopher from the past, who had claimed that independence from God only existed in the minds of young and prosperous people. Old age brought on a natural turning towards god, but in the civilized world there was no old age, and people stayed young as well as prosperous until the very ends of their lives. However, Mustapha feels that God probably did exist but now manifested in absence, as the people had chosen machinery, science, and happiness.
John counters that people must at some point feel the need for God in solitude, but Mustapha informs him that everyone in the society was conditioned to never be alone. John tries to argue for the importance of religion, and a fear of God that drove humans to be good and just. He talks about the role of heroism and bravery, but Mustapha counters with the argument that heroism and bravery were actually a symptom of political inefficiency and so had no room in the modern society which was perfect and irresolute. Mustapha points out that it is the people who choose what is good and just, not god. Mustapha also explains that fear is an important emotion to experience for the health of the human body and so every citizen was compelled to undergo Violent Passion Surrogate once every month. This procedure allowed one to experience all of the fear and passion that the human body needed without any of the inconveniences that were associated with those emotions. John believes that those inconveniences were important and he would rather have them. Mustapha concludes that John essentially wishes for the choice to be unhappy, and John agrees.
Bernard and Helmholtz find John throwing up using mustard and warm water, a method of purification that he had learned from the native Americans in the reservation. Bernard and Helmholtz come to bid John goodbye, Bernard is very apologetic for his behavior and both John and Helmholtz have already forgiven him. They are leaving for the Falkland islands while John is to continue with the experiment on the instructions of Mustapha Mond.
John begins to live in an abandoned lighthouse, that is far away from the people and has an incredible view. John wants to become independent of society, he plants a garden and begins to fashion a bow. He wants to be pure and good and so punishes himself for his sins. He whips himself when he thinks about Lenina or forgets about Linda, and a journalist captures this strange rite that John performs and creates a movie of it. John becomes a celebrity and finds a huge crowd gathering for him, they surround him in a ring and chant for him to use his whip.
Just then, Henry brings along Lenina, at the sight of Lenina and the promptings of the crowd to use the whip. John attacks Lenina with the whip, and the people that were spectators to the incident begin to sing and hit one another in a frenzy of violence and sensuality. John awakens the next morning from a Soma-induced sleep and is horrified at what he has done. That night an even greater crowd is to assemble after learning about the wild nature of the gathering the previous night, but those that visit the lighthouse early, discover the suspended feet of John's hung body.
Analysis
In this section, we learn of the ideology that guides civilized society. Mustapha Mond is surprisingly very similar to Helmholtz and John, but they differ in what they consider to be valuable. Mustapha believes that the stability of society trumps the needs of the individual while John and Helmholtz prize the individual. Bernard shows contrition and a degree of self-loathing by choosing to sit in the most uncomfortable chair after being brought to the Controller, and even attempts to gain another opportunity to integrate into society.
It is unclear why Mustapha wishes to continue with the experiment to integrate John into civilized society, perhaps it could be some degree of empathy that he shares with John. The mob that surrounds John and instigates him to use his whip is reminiscent of the ritual performed in the Savage Reservation. In this ritual of modern society, John's submission to the raised emotions of the crowd and Soma is as much of a sacrifice as the sacrifice by the Natives of the reservation. For John, this sacrifice is too much to bear and so he decides to kill himself rather than be a part of society, ultimately claiming the right to unhappiness and even death.
