Chapter 11

Summary

John the savage has become notorious in London and people are anxious to see him.

Never before have they had the opportunity to see somebody from the outside world, from the reservation. Linda decides to make up for lost time and is overdosing on soma, which will only accelerate her death.  She shows total contempt for the crowd, and uses the soma as an escape.

At first John objects to her receiving the drug, but succumbs when the doctor tells him that she is experiencing ecstasy in her delirium.

Bernard becomes John’s legal guardian and is given the task by Mond of showing him the wonders of Utopia. However, Bernard is irresponsible and uses John to enhance his position both socially and sexually. 

Mond sees John as litmus paper, and he will supply information concerning the success of the Utopian society. 

Now that Bernard is a celebrity along with John, he has forgotten his rebellious thoughts, and enjoys the sexual freedom he has with all the women that now find him attractive. The only one who is not impressed with Bernard appears to be Helmholtz Watson, who considers that he has betrayed his beliefs. 

John soon becomes disillusioned with the wonders of the Brave New World. He becomes physically sick when he visits a factory where the workers are hundreds of identical twins, and he is disgusted as he watches them receive their daily soma ration. 

Mond soon becomes irritated by Bernard’s opinionated behavior.

Eventually John manages to shake off Bernard, and he goes out on a date with Lenina to the Feelies (an advanced form of motion picture where you receive physical stimulation coupled with the visual imagery).  Lenina thinks John is very handsome, but is concerned that he has not made a pass at her. John finds the film extremely disappointing and this puts him in a state of depression.  Lenina is too concerned over whether he will make love to her or not. Lenina has to console herself by taking soma, as John returns to his quarters to read some Shakespeare.

Interpretation

The reader can see that Bernard has learnt nothing from the downfall of the D.H.C., for he is going down the same road.  He might be able to pull the wool over the eyes of his contemporaries, but Mond is no fool and will dispose of Bernard when he has served his purpose.

Bernard treats John like a piece of property and a means for him to improve his social standing and achieve many sexual conquests.

Mond is interested to find out if John will be able to master the new lifestyle of Utopia when he still remembers the old ways.  However, John’s reaction to the sterile suffocating world of Utopia is rejection and disappointment. 

It is clear that Mond has no consideration for those below him.  The D.H.C. was quickly disposed of in favor of Bernard, but he soon will be discarded like a useless piece of machinery.

To sum up therefore, Mond’s experiment is to expose the savage to the sophisticated world of Utopia, and monitor the reactions. 

We cannot finish this interpretation without commenting on Huxley’s spoof of Hollywood in the form of John and Lenina’s visit to see a film, feelie.  Its title is “Three Weeks in a Helicopter” and the subtitle is an “all supersinging, synthetic talking, colored, stereoscopic (3-dimensional) feelie, with synchronized scent organ accompaniment”. 

I think it is important to remind the reader that this was written in 1932 and Huxley shows a great insight into the future.  In the 1960’s motion pictures were produced where the audience was treated to scents to accompany the action of the film.