Brave New World Chapter 12 By Quinn P.

Summary:


Chapter 12 begins with a frustrated Bernard Marx attempting to convince John to come out of his room and meet with Bernard’s guests. Bernard is unsuccessful, he ends up having to go back to his guests without the very person they came to see. When he returns to the room full of people empty handed, they all turn on him, furious because they feel that they have been tricked, or lied to. Many leave, while others remain to gossip about Bernard the same way they did before he gained popularity. By the end of the night, Bernard has been completely torn apart, all of the people who showed so much interest in him have gone back to hating him, and so he attempts to get rid of his problems by taking four tablets of soma.

Meanwhile, as Bernard faces social ruin, Lenina is absorbed in thoughts of John. She believes he didn’t make an appearance because he dislikes her, even though that is not the case. Eventually, the Arch-Community-Songster of Canterbury takes her home with him, though she takes a few grams of soma before actually responding to his advances.

That next morning when Bernard wakes up from his soma holiday he and John make up, with John saying, "Well I'd rather you be unhappy than have the sort of false lying happiness you were having here." Bernard also reconciles with his friend Helmholtz, and while catching up with each other, he learns that Helmholtz had trouble with authority due to some rhymes he wrote about being alone.

By the end of the chapter, Helmholtz and John have become good friends due to their shared appreciation for poetry.

Analysis:

In the past few chapters we saw the rise of Bernard's popularity, but in this one we saw its fall. It demonstrated the idea that it's easy to lose something just as quickly as it was gained. The chapter seems to have two main purposes, the first being to bring Bernard back to being a social outcast, and the second being to establish the friendship between John, Helmholtz, and Bernard.


Discussion Questions:

1. What does John mean when he he says, "That's precisely why I don't want to come again." in response to Bernard saying, "But you always came before, John."

2. Why would Huxely build up Bernard's popularity only to tear it back down a few chapters later? How could this impact the story?

3. How does this chapter develop the character Helmholtz?