CHAPTERS 10 AND

11
THE HANDS of all the four thousand electric clocks in all the Bloomsbury Centre's four thousand
rooms marked twenty-seven minutes past two. "This hive of industry," as the Director was
fond of calling it, was in the full buzz of work. Everyone was busy, everything in ordered
motion. Under the microscopes, their long tails furiously lashing, spermatozoa were burrowing
head first into eggs; and, fertilized, the eggs were expanding, dividing, or if bokanovskified,
budding and breaking up into whole populations of separate embryos. From the Social
Predestination Room the escalators went rumbling down into the basement, and there, in the
crimson darkness, stewingly warm on their cushion of peritoneum and gorged with
bloodsurrogate and hormones, the foetuses grew and grew or, poisoned, languished into a
stunted Epsilonhood. With a faint hum and rattle the moving racks crawled imperceptibly
through the weeks and the recapitulated aeons to where, in the Decanting Room, the newly-
unbottled babes uttered their first yell of horror and amazement.

1. Chapter 10 begins with a description of the Centre’s meticulously precise and synchronized
activity. Why do you think the author chose to remind readers of the sacred order of the
BNW?

2. Why is the DHC grave? What does he reveal to Henry regarding the day’s agenda?

3. The DHC says, “[Bernard’s] intellectual eminence carries with it corresponding moral
responsibilities. The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray.” What
responsibility does Bernard have to his society? What “talent” of Bernard’s might the DHC
be referring to?

4. The DHC continues, “It is better that one should suffer than that many should be
corrupted…no offence is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behaviour. Murder kills only the
individual–and, after all, what is an individual?" What unorthodox behavior has Bernard
exhibited? How is Bernard’s behavior worse than murder? Why does the DHC show such
disregard for the individual?
©LOVERMOYER2108
5. Describe Bernard's new confidence as he arrives at the centre. Why is he displaying this
new attitude?

6. ACCUSATIONS AGAINST BERNARD

7. How does the DHC plan to punish Bernard for his unorthodox behaviors?

8. How does Bernard surprise the DHC when asked if he can defend himself?

9. REACTIONS TO LINDA’S ENTRANCE

10.LINDA’S OUTSTANDING FEATURES, ATTITUDE, ACTIONS, AND WORDS

©LOVERMOYER2108
 11.What profane expression does Linda shock the crowd with?

12.How is John’s entrance significantly different from his mother’s?

13.What profane expression does John shock the crowd with?

14.How does the Centre’s staff react to John and Linda? Explain why they would respond this
way.

15.How does the Director respond to the “homecoming” of his family? Why?

Chapter 11

“all upper-caste London was wild to see this delicious creature who had fallen on his knees
before the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning–or rather the ex-Director….”

16.Why do the citizens want to see John, but not necessarily Linda?

17.How does Linda relax upon her return to civilization?

©LOVERMOYER2108
18.What is the doctor’s attitude toward Linda’s escape? How does John react?

19.How can “every soma-holiday [be] a bit of what our ancestors used to call eternity”?

20.Describe Linda’s soma-holiday.

21.Describe Bernard’s enhanced reputation.

22. How has Fanny’s opinion of Bernard changed? Why?

23. What is Helmholtz’s reaction to Bernard’s new attitude?

24. Success went fizzily to Bernard's head, and in the process completely reconciled him
(as any good intoxicant should do) to a world which, up till then, he had found
very unsatisfactory. In so far as it recognized him as important, the order of things
was good. But, reconciled by his success, he yet refused to forego the privilege of

©LOVERMOYER2108
 criticizing this order. For the act of criticizing heightened his sense of importance,
made him feel larger. Moreover, he did genuinely believe that there were things to
criticize.

Explain why Bernard feels he is in a position to criticize the practices of the BNW. Is
anyone interested in Bernard’s opinions? Why or why not?

25. On a tour, John is unimpressed with the amenities of the BNW, specifically, The
Bombay Green Rocket. He says, "Ariel could put a girdle round the earth in forty
minutes." Ariel is one of two "spirits" in Shakespeare’s The Tempest who act as
servants to the powerful Prospero. Unfortunately, either John or Huxley got his
Shakespeare mixed up, because Ariel is NOT the tricky little spirit who can put a
girdle around the earth in forty minutes. Nevertheless, John is not as excited about
the BNW as he thought he would be. Why do you think that is?

26. Bernard’s sends a report to Mustapha Mond. What are his observations about
John’s estimation of the BNW?

27. What is your soul? Why would Bernard be so confused by John’s concern for the soul?
Do Brave New World citizens have souls?
©LOVERMOYER2108
28. What is Mustapha Mond’s response to Bernard’s criticism of the BNW?

29. How does John react to the helicopter light factory’s staff? Why?

30. John says, “O brave new world that has such people in it.” What such people is John
referring to?

31. Why is John’s concern about Linda so disconcerting to Bernard and other BNW
citizens?

32. The men visit Eton school, and John witnesses a lesson about the Savage Reservation.
Why is he offended by the lesson and the students’ reaction to it?

33. What is a Malthusian Drill?

34. John is excited to visit the school’s library. What is hoping to find there? Why will he
surely be disappointed?

35. Describe death conditioning.

©LOVERMOYER2108
36. Do we do any kind of death conditioning in our society? Provide an example.

37. Flying over the monorail station, John sees hundreds of lower-caste workers lining up
to receive their soma rations. Soma is distributed in little cardboard pillboxes,
which John refers to as “caskets.” Why is this an appropriate term to use for soma?

38. Lenina is excited to go on a date with John. She refers to him, as all the others do,
as “the Savage.” Why did the author choose this identification for his character?

39. Lenina and John are going to the feelies. Anticipate John’s reaction to the show.

40. Describe the feelie that the couple experiences.

41. How do John’s and Lenina’s reaction to the feelie differ?

©LOVERMOYER2108
42. Why is the date a disappointment to both John and Lenina?

43. When John returns to his apartment, he reads Shakespeare’s Othello. Why does he
do this? Would reading Othello make Lenina feel better about the date? Explain.

44. What is strange about Lenina’s feelings towards John. Are her feelings reciprocated?

45. How does Lenina alleviate her emotional turmoil after the date? Would this also be a
good solution for John? Explain.

46. Will John and Lenina resolve their conflicts and become a genuine couple? Explain your
response.

©LOVERMOYER2108