Brave New World Chapter XVI

Summary  The chapter opens with the three men being lead into the Controller’s study.  John learns of Mond’s knowing of Shakespeare’s work, and questions why the new society doesn’t incorporate “old” things like this.  Mond opens up to his past, talking about his experiences with “real science” and how he chose to go into Controllership, over being sent to an island to further his scientific knowledge.  Bernard is horrified by the fact he may be sent to an island. He loses himself in the study and is carried off by three men.  Mond tells John and Helmholtz that Bernard will be sent to an island, where he will actually be better off. He then asks Helmholtz where he wants to be sent; who says he prefers a shifting climate for his writing, so he chooses the Falkland Islands.  The chapter opens with the three men being lead into the Controller’s study.  John learns of Mond’s knowing of Shakespeare’s work, and questions why the new society doesn’t incorporate “old” things like this.  Mond opens up to his past, talking about his experiences with “real science” and how he chose to go into Controllership, over being sent to an island to further his scientific knowledge.  Bernard is horrified by the fact he may be sent to an island. He loses himself in the study and is carried off by three men.  Mond tells John and Helmholtz that Bernard will be sent to an island, where he will actually be better off. He then asks Helmholtz where he wants to be sent; who says he prefers a shifting climate for his writing, so he chooses the Falkland Islands.

John  Throughout the chapter John is constantly gaining new knowledge. Such as how Mond knows of Shakespeare’s work because of the quote he made from The Tempest. Also he sees how the new things such as the feelies are better to keep the society stable. He questions why not everyone be an Alpha-Plus, but sees that if this were to be the case there would be no stability, as Alphas don’t want the jobs of Epsilon Semi-Morons, and they go mad, even in some cases (from the Cyprus Experiment) start first class civil wars.  This is the first time the reader begins to see John coming to grips with the society outside of the Reservation, he seems to begin to understand why soma is distributed and why people are happy “below the water-line”, and the sorts of things that are done differently in the society to keep the stability.  Throughout the chapter John is constantly gaining new knowledge. Such as how Mond knows of Shakespeare’s work because of the quote he made from The Tempest. Also he sees how the new things such as the feelies are better to keep the society stable. He questions why not everyone be an Alpha-Plus, but sees that if this were to be the case there would be no stability, as Alphas don’t want the jobs of Epsilon Semi-Morons, and they go mad, even in some cases (from the Cyprus Experiment) start first class civil wars.  This is the first time the reader begins to see John coming to grips with the society outside of the Reservation, he seems to begin to understand why soma is distributed and why people are happy “below the water-line”, and the sorts of things that are done differently in the society to keep the stability.

Helmholtz  Helmholtz, like John also gains some new knowledge and comes to terms with the present society.  He openly agrees/admits to the feelies being idiotic, “Writing when there is nothing to say”.  The reader first sees Helmholtz as sort of individual from society as he holds all of these feelings against the way society is  Like John he too learns about “real science”, he is taken aback because he thinks that science is everything. But Mond explains that this is not really science, compared to the Physicist he once was.  Helmholtz begins to like the idea of being sent to an island as he believes it will enhance his writing and make him become more individualistic.  He chooses to be sent to the Falkland Islands.  Helmholtz, like John also gains some new knowledge and comes to terms with the present society.  He openly agrees/admits to the feelies being idiotic, “Writing when there is nothing to say”.  The reader first sees Helmholtz as sort of individual from society as he holds all of these feelings against the way society is  Like John he too learns about “real science”, he is taken aback because he thinks that science is everything. But Mond explains that this is not really science, compared to the Physicist he once was.  Helmholtz begins to like the idea of being sent to an island as he believes it will enhance his writing and make him become more individualistic.  He chooses to be sent to the Falkland Islands.

Mustapha Mond  In the chapter he begins to open up to the three men. He reveals to John about his liking of Shakespeare’s work. He describes why and how the society is kept stable, he tells them of his occurrence with “real science” and how it is a potential enemy to society, and finally he tells of how he gave up on going to an island to further his scientific knowledge, over joining the controllership board and eventually becoming Controller.  The reader is shown how Mustapha like John, and Helmholtz was, and still is an individual. We are shown the knowledge he possesses and how he is sort of against the way society is presently run, even thought it has to be run this way due to the issue of stabilty.  In the chapter he begins to open up to the three men. He reveals to John about his liking of Shakespeare’s work. He describes why and how the society is kept stable, he tells them of his occurrence with “real science” and how it is a potential enemy to society, and finally he tells of how he gave up on going to an island to further his scientific knowledge, over joining the controllership board and eventually becoming Controller.  The reader is shown how Mustapha like John, and Helmholtz was, and still is an individual. We are shown the knowledge he possesses and how he is sort of against the way society is presently run, even thought it has to be run this way due to the issue of stabilty.

Theme  Only really one obvious theme in the chapter, which is individualism.  It is the main theme because you see the characters beginning to open up to how they truly feel, eg: Helmholtz saying that the feelies are idiotic and Mond saying that the way society is run is meaningless, but for the good of the people.  They are all supposed to be conditioned not like this, but due to their individualistic personalities, they seem to rebel against the “normal” ideas.  Only really one obvious theme in the chapter, which is individualism.  It is the main theme because you see the characters beginning to open up to how they truly feel, eg: Helmholtz saying that the feelies are idiotic and Mond saying that the way society is run is meaningless, but for the good of the people.  They are all supposed to be conditioned not like this, but due to their individualistic personalities, they seem to rebel against the “normal” ideas.

Quotes  Mond: “Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about my ears, and sometimes voices”.  Helmholtz: “Because it is idiotic. Writing when there’s nothing to say”.  Mond: “..is modelled on the iceberg--eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above”.  Mond: “I started doing a bit of cooking of my own. Unorthodox cooking, illicit cooking. A bit of real science, in fact.”  Helmholtz: “I believe one would write better if the climate were bad. If there were a lot of wind and storms, for example…”.  Mond: “Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about my ears, and sometimes voices”.  Helmholtz: “Because it is idiotic. Writing when there’s nothing to say”.  Mond: “..is modelled on the iceberg--eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above”.  Mond: “I started doing a bit of cooking of my own. Unorthodox cooking, illicit cooking. A bit of real science, in fact.”  Helmholtz: “I believe one would write better if the climate were bad. If there were a lot of wind and storms, for example…”.