October 26, 2012 Brave New World: Questions and Answers

Question: Why did John’s father abandon John and Linda? Answer: He tried to find Linda, but couldn’t. So he left. He did not know about John at that time. It wouldn’t have been “right” for him to care enough to stay.

Question: On page 49, why do they say “ending is better than mending, ending is better than mending”? Answer: They want people to buy, or consume, more things.

Question: What was Bernard’s proposal when he talked to Linda after he talked to the Director? Answer:

Question: Does the director have strong feelings for Linda or does he just feel scared about when he lost Linda in New Mexico? Answer: He feels something, but it’s not quite clear. He was embarrassed talking about it.

Question: Why did Lenina still go on a date with Bernard after he said so many things she doesn’t like? Answer: She says she still likes him (hands, shoulders). Possibly interested because he’s different/new.

Question: What do Bernard and Helmhotz think about? What’s the difference between the two? Answer: They think both about changes, being individuals, free. Different because Bernard is unsure and insecure, but Helmholtz is very self confident

Question: What is the main idea of Chapter 2 and why did Huxley write it? Answer: Chapter two explains hypnopædia and conditioning. Huxley wrote it to show the readers how the government controls people in this society.

Question: What made Bernard different from everybody else? Answer: The answer isn’t quite clear. There are rumors that alcohol was added to his tube when he was an embryo still developing and it made him physically smaller.

Question: Why did the author create this world? Are there any connections to reality? Answer: Huxley wrote the book to express his views on human nature and as a warning. There were several very controlling governments gaining power when Huxley wrote the book.

Question: Why was the Director afraid the Controller would tell the students too much? Answer: Mond told the students that it was time for them to learn history. The director was afraid that Mond might say something about the “forbidden books” such as Bibles and poetry

Question: Does Bernard like the Solidarity Service? Answer: I think Bernard wants to like the Solidarity Service, but he doesn’t feel the way he is supposed to afterwards, so it makes him upset and lonely.

Question: Why does only Bernard want to be free while other people listen to the government? Answer: page 67: “Too little bone and brawn had isolated Bernard from his fellow men, and the sense of his apartness, being, by all the current standards, a mental excess, became in its turn a cause of wider separation.”

Question: After Bernard went to the Solidarity Service, why did he feel more isolated? Answer: He was supposed to come away from the service feeling peaceful and connected, like everyone else. But he didn’t feel that way which made him lonely.

Question: Lenina saw an old man for the first time on the Reservation and was really shocked. How can the new world keep people from getting old? Answer: (p.111) “We don’t allow them to get like that. We preserve them from diseases. We keep their internal secretions artificially balanced at a youthful equilibrium… we give them transfusions of young blood…”

Question: Did Lenina have feelings for Bernard or is she just acting like a perfect member of society? Answer: Lenina is interested in Bernard, but she is not strongly attached to him. She decided to “have” him after deciding to have someone besides Henry

Question: If Bernard is not normal, why does Lenina want to “have” him? Answer: Lenina is interested in going to the Reservation, since not many people can get permission to go. She find him interesting.