Chapter Twelve and Thirteen

Bernard being as hot headed as he has been in the previous decides to have a gathering of people so that they can meet "the savage" but when John finds out his plan he disagrees because he does not want to be used for Bernard's gain. At this gathering Bernard's guests make him feel humiliated because he could not supply them with "the savage". I thought Bernard got exactly what he deserved because he had been completely arrogant in the previous chapter and the beginning of this one. Other than this event little happens in this chapter other than John meeting Bernard's friend Helmoltz who laughs at John and humiliates him. I found this chapter quite boring and with little information that would lead people to ban it.

The level of sexuality in Chapter Thirteen is intense. Lenina's feelings for John have become immensely strong. Other men simply cannot satisfy her. She must have John! The fact that she is so enticed by him am amuses me. Earlier in the novel she thought it normal to engage in sexual acts with different men frequently but now she is so content to this one man. She has begun to contradict what she has previously stood for. Then she goes to find John in hope to seduce him, but to her surprise he merely confesses is undying love for her which disgusts her. She cannot fathom the fact that he wants to have a family with her because the idea of having a family of your own is very unusual and out of the norm. Even though she is repulsed by this man she still is extremely attracted to him so she continues her act of seduction and fails because John is disgusted by such acts. He calls her a whore and leaves her.

Chapter Thirteen is definitely the most inappropriate chapter so far in this novel. the high sexual context used and the vulgar language would definitely leave many readers horrified. However, I think that the controversy of the content in this chapter would invoke readers to want to know more. Even if repulsed by the content the readers would still want to know what happened to see whether the novel continued to be as horrifying as it was whether they approved of it or not. To me the shock value of this book only seems oto get more interesting. I continue to read and am surprised more almost every chapter and cannot wait for the plot to continue to unravel.