"'Very well, then,' said Bernard; and it was almost a threat" (Brave New World, 100).Bernard got into this "almost" zone in chapter six, and it . . . confused me. Why would Bernard threaten Lenina with the Reservation? More simply, why is he even going out with her? Maybe he's just using her to learn more about hypnopaedia, to get to the Reservation to observe the savages, or to conform. Or maybe I missed his motivation earlier in the book. By the way, I think the whole Reservation savages thing is a critique of the way we treat Native Americans in the United States. Definitely the crappiest legacy of Andrew Jackson.
Also, when he was talking to the Director, he spoke "almost enviously" (97) when the Director was describing how his date got lost in New Mexico. Is he envious because he longs for "some great trial, some pain, some persecution" (104), or does he just think it would be fun to lose Lenina in the Reservation? Seriously, I'd greatly appreciate it if somebody told me why Bernard is going out with her.
One of the little sayings that Lenina recited, "Never put off till to-morrow the fun you can have today" (93), reminded me of a song Frau Price put on her blog. It's called "Schöne Neue Welt" -- yet another song called "Brave New World." Basically, it's a social critique: when we live impulsively, we destroy the world. Isn't that nice?
From what I can derive, I think that they are using each other as cover ups. Lenina was getting comments about being loyal to Henry Ford (I think, chapter three?), while Bernard was beginning to unfoil (Blogger says that is not a word, it is now) all of the contorted ethics in the book. Basically, I think they only date because they need someone to preserve their reputations?
ReplyDeleteI think Brave New World is a twisted version of Pocahontas. Just saying. The whole "savages" part was totally another strike at the United States and how corrupted Huxley thinks the US is. Where is Huxley from anyways?
ReplyDeleteEngland, I believe. I don't think he's calling us "savages" as much as he is using the word "savage" for contrast between the Reservation and the civilized world in the book.
ReplyDeleteTo be clear, what I originally expected when I first saw the word "Reservation" was a group of people who would have been considered normal and civilized before the 1920s happened. That was an interesting idea to me -- the people who didn't conform to the social changes. Instead, it was a group of people who Americans have wrongly assumed to be savages for hundreds of years, which is where I think the social critique comes into play.
I got the impression that he was envious of the pain/trials/persecution. People are always just using the soma to forget that they're unhappy in his world, and I think he feels like that makes everything a little less meaningful. I think he recognizes that the value of being happy lies in its contrast to being unhappy.
ReplyDeleteThat! That makes a lot of sense to me.
ReplyDelete