In chapter 10 in Brave New World, the director is on the verge of sending Bernard to Iceland, because Bernard simply does not fit into the society and is considered an outcast. But before he has a chance, Bernard switches it around and puts all the shame on the director instead. Bernard proves to be a very smart character and embarasses the director in front of all of the world state members. I find that act a very selfish one on Bernard's part. He should have brought Linda and John to the director in private but I guess in their society, it doesn't really matter because no one really has privacy. Plus, by shunning the director in front of all those people, Bernard receives more credit for stepping up and showing them he was capable of doing such a courageous act. I think he knows it will give him social status in the new world and keeps that in mind because people already think low of him. It also shows that he is sort of desperate in a way because he'll do anything to gain some sort of social power.
One thing I found particularly disturbing was the children in the death hospital. First of all, the hospital is just for dying people? And why are the children going through death conditioning? Can someone explain?
--Jenn Headley
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2 comments:
I agree that this is a very selfish act on Bernard's part and will also play into part of his natural boasting. I don't know if anybody remembers, but Helmholtz states that Bernard has a way of boasting and being too bold after the actions that impress others. It does in fact prove that Bernard is very interested in social rank, even though he is already high in the caste system.
The death hospital relates back to a common phrase in their society, "ending is better than mending". A hospital would make sense for the dead because all their society does is throw things away if they are in any kind of bad condition. This also makes sense because the children go through every "life" conditionings possible, they must encounter the death conditioning to have the full circle.
Paul Morrison
Bernard's act on the director was done for one reason, to embarrass the director and hopefully to spare himself of being exiled. You must remember at the time of his planning on bringing Linda and John back to World State is when he finds out that he's going to be exiled, Helmholtz tells him. So Bernard brings them back and the director is embarrassed and Bernard is spared being exiled (for the time being). But he gets added bonuses if you will, because Bernard is said to be John "guardian" and it so happens that everyone wants to meet the very savage himself (john). Bernard becomes quite popular despite everyone still feeling lonely about him deep down inside. Bernard gets tons of girls and is well liked, but when things don't go right for him they really don't go right; including the time when John refused to come out for dinner when Bernard invited several key people to meet him.
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