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Unit 18: Aldous Huxley—Brave New World: Detailed Study of Text-I

The new “religion” in the society has close ties with consumption. There is not really religion Notes
to speak of, but rather a system of ideologies that acknowledges Ford as its leader. Thus, the
society replaces the Christian “Our Lord” with “Ford” and uses the T instead of the cross.
Consumption is as extremely positive due to the introduction of mass production. Huxley
plays with the fact that Henry Ford introduced mass production with the Model T car. Huxley
then bases the society’s “religion” around that fact. However, strong elements of Christianity
remain. Chapter 3 ends with a scene taken from the New Testament where Jesus tells his
disciples to let the children stay with him. Two noisy children harass His Fordship Mustapha
Mond.

Did u know? The Director of the Centre orders them to leave, but Mustapha replies as
Jesus did, saying, “Suffer little children.”

18.1.2 Chapters 4–6
Chapter 4

Summary
After work, Lenina and Bernard Marx share a crowded elevator heading to the roof. In front
of everyone, she tells Bernard that she will go on a date with him. She offers to take a
weeklong trip to New Mexico if Bernard still wants to have her. The public display embarrasses
Marx, who would prefer to talk it over in private. Lenina laughs at his awkwardness and then
takes off with Henry Foster in a helicopter. They leave London for a round of Obstacle Golf,
a game for adults. Benito Hoover, an Alpha, approaches Bernard as he watches her leave, tells
Bernard not to look so glum, and offers him the narcotic soma to make him feel better. Bernard
rushes off before even talking to Benito, another sign of his strange behavior.

Bernard feels both ashamed and uncomfortable by his exchange with Benito Hoover, yet he
also realizes that Benito cannot help but act the way that he does any more than the rest of
society. Bernard notes, “Those who meant well behaved in the same way as those who meant
badly.” He gets his own flying machine and bosses around several Delta-Minus attendants
who give him funny looks because he is no bigger than they are. Because physique is an
important indicator of caste, it is a sore spot for Bernard and he takes his frustration and
insecurities out on those that are inferior to him.

Task How do the other Alphas relate to Bernard?

Bernard enters his private vehicle and flies over to visit Helmholtz Watson. Watson is a
lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering. His specialty is in writing hypnopaedic lines
that “pierce” into people’s subconscious minds to make them behave in certain ways. Both
men are individual thinkers who have become friends because they cannot fit well into the
society. Bernard is different because he is physically smaller than the average Alpha, whereas
Watson is more intelligent then other men. Watson is the antithesis of Bernard; he is handsome
and sporty and has women fawning over him. However, he prefers intellectual conversations
and likes to talk to Bernard Marx.
They go to Bernard’s apartment and Helmholtz talks about wanting to be able to create something
out of words. He knows that he writes slogans well, but he feels that his words are not

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