Page 220 - DENG404_FICTION

Fiction

Notes 19.1 Detailed Study of Chapters 10–18

19.1.1 Chapters 10–12

Chapter 10
Summary

The Director passes through the Centre’s Fertilizing room, admiring the fertilizing and decanting
technologies. He and Henry Foster plan to meet Bernard in the Fertilizing Room. The Director
tells Henry that Bernard must receive punishment because no one should lead the general
population astray with strange behavior or notions of individuality. With all the workers
present, the Director publicly reproaches Bernard for his social misconduct and tells him that
he must go to Iceland where he will not be able to influence others.
Bernard laughs and introduces Linda. Linda quickly recognizes the Director, calls him by his
name, Tomakin, and rushes up to give him a hug. When he pulls away out of disgust, Linda
angrily screams at him for leaving her on the Reservation while pregnant with John. The
Director becomes even more mortified when John walks in, falls to his knees, and calls him
“father,” a word filled with embarrassing meaning. All the workers begin laughing until the
Director finally runs out of the room.

Analysis

This chapter uses contrast to emphasize the rising tension of the novel. Bernard and the
Director represent two sides of the novel’s main conflict, and this chapter describes their
confrontation. The chapter opens with descriptions of the scientific mechanisms used to create
humans. The Director states that no one, including Bernard, can express individuality in any
way. The Centre can simply make a new individual if anyone gets out of line, which indicates
the society’s reliance on science rather than human life.
The Director’s predicament in the chapter is an example of irony. The Director enters the room
with a high regard for social programming and belief in the good of science, state regulation,
and conformity in all social practices. However, the Director becomes the chief example of
non-conformity when the others learn that he himself exhibited the most embarrassing behavior
in society by fathering a child. The Director, who is normally responsible for the creation of
life and ordering of class, is also responsible for a sexual act that goes against this dystopian
society.

Chapter 11

Summary
The Director decides to resign his position because the shame of being a “father” is too great.
All of “upper-caste” London clamors to see the savage, and John becomes the center of attention.
However, they consider Linda repulsive because of her age, her bad teeth, and her weight. She
takes soma in excess, both to enjoy the feeling of “eternity” that she used to feel as a member
of civilized society, and so that she can remove herself from the judgment and looks of
repugnance of the other members of society. John worries about her but receives assurance
that she feels happier with soma even though she will not live much longer if she keeps taking
so much. For the first time, John encounters the civilized society’s attitude towards death.

Bernard immediately becomes famous because he controls the Savage’s social schedule. Bernard
takes advantage of his fame to get as many women as he can. He holds parties for the social

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