Chapter Seven and Eight

At the reservation Bernard and Lenina go to a community celebration where they listen do the beating of drums and watch a youth get whipped many times to the extent that he bleeds and collapses to the ground. After this Lenina and Bernard meet another youth named John who's mother once lived in London at the World State where Bernard and Lenina live. John's mother is named Linda and became pregnant because something went wrong with her contraceptives but ended up in the reservation after suffering injury during a visit and some Indians found her and took her to their village. Bernard realizes that when John mentions his father was from London as well and that his name was Tomakin, he is really talking about the Director Thomas. Bernard does not reveal this to the others.

I found it interesting how Bernard at one point when talking to Linda with Lenina present states that he thinks he had missed out in not having a mother. To me this is a big statement because it goes completely against what his society stands for. In his culture a mother represents impurity and strangeness. This seems to further differ him from those who he coexists with.

Later we find out a little more about this new character John. We learn that his mother told him lovely stories of where she came from and it was his dream to leave the reservation and go to London. We learn of how his mother taught him to read and how john was left out by the other boys in the reservation and were never friendly to him. He had lived a lonely life furthering his want to leave the reservation.

Ironically it seems Bernard and John are opposite in a way. Bernard seems to repel from the society in London and wants to get away from it. He wishes to feel more emotion and says he wished he could have had a mother but John has always dreamed of leaving his home and going to London to where his mother has come from. However John's views could change once he comes to finally see what the life in the World State is like. He may be very disappointed because he is used to the freedom he has lived with his whole life while the World State may be to structured for him.

At the end of this section of the novel Bernard asks John if he would like to come back to London with them. John is overjoyed and asks if his mother may come along. Bernard says yes in the hope that he can embarrass the Director by showing up on his doorstep with his son and the women he impregnated. I am sensing that the bringing of Linda and John to London is going to create a large conflict amongst Bernard and the Director. The director will obviously have to try and hide what he has done in his past because it would contradict what he teaches otherwise how could he tell people that natural pregnancy was wrong when he himself is the father to a natural born child? But how far will he go to hide his past?