Brave New World: Chapters 3 and 4 – Key Insights
Posted on Jan 25, 2025 in English
Chapter 3: Questions and Answers
Questions
- What are the only new games the Controllers now approve? Why?
- Who is the stranger who appears and startles the Director?
- Why is Bernard Marx upset with Henry Foster’s talk?
- What has been advised for Fanny Crowne to relieve her depression?
- What other name is Our Ford known by? When is this name used?
- What does Controller Mustapha Mond talk about that shocks the students?
- Why is Fanny worried about Lenina’s dating habits?
- Why is Bernard shunned by most people?
- What is the purpose of Lenina’s Malthusian belt? Why must she wear it?
- What is soma?
Answers
- The Controllers now only approve new games that require more equipment than any existing games. This is because the goal is to ensure that people consume manufactured goods.
- The stranger is Mustapha Mond, the Resident Controller for Western Europe. He is one of ten Controllers for the entire world.
- Henry’s locker room talk about women, the feelies, and sexual activity—and his specific references to Lenina—upset Bernard.
- Fanny has been advised to have a Pregnancy Substitute for three months. It should keep her healthy for three or four years.
- Our Ford was also known as Our Freud when psychological matters were being discussed.
- Mond makes numerous references to words like mother, father, nursing babies, families, and all words that have become taboo.
- Fanny tells Lenina that she has been seeing Henry Foster exclusively for too long. She is even more shocked when Lenina shows interest in Bernard Marx. She advises Lenina to get out and sleep with more men.
- Even though he is an Alpha-Plus, Bernard is shorter and more slightly built, which is not normal. He also enjoys being alone. Rumor says he had too much alcohol added to his blood surrogate when he was bottled.
- Lenina’s Malthusian belt contains a plentiful supply of contraceptives. Since she is a freemartin, she is capable of becoming pregnant, which would be the ultimate shame and disgrace.
- Soma is a constantly available drug, which is euphoric, narcotic, and pleasantly hallucinogenic. People use it in their free time or in moments of stress to supply dream trips and to keep them happy always.
Chapter 4: Questions and Answers
Questions
- Where is Lenina when she tries to discuss the New Mexico trip with Bernard?
- Why is Bernard embarrassed by Lenina’s conversation?
- What is the difference in the way Bernard and Lenina look at the warm blue sky when they reach the roof?
- When Benito sees that Bernard is in a bad temper, what does he offer?
- What does Lenina say during the flight with Henry that demonstrates she is a true product of conditioning?
- How does Bernard treat those of lower caste than he? Why?
- What caste is Helmholtz? What is his job?
- What does Watson ask Bernard when the two men arrive at Watson’s apartment?
- What does Watson compare words to? Explain the comparison.
- What does Watson quietly feel about his friend Bernard?
Answers
- Lenina is in the lift (elevator) when she sees Bernard and openly talks about spending a week with him in New Mexico.
- Bernard is always embarrassed by what he considers intimate conversations taking place in front of others.
- Bernard remarks about the beauty of the sky. Lenina only sees it as a backdrop to play Obstacle Golf.
- Benito offers Bernard soma. No one should be unhappy when the drug will bring instant contentment.
- Lenina sees the colors of the lower castes. She repeats the conditioning phrases: “What a hideous color khaki is” and “I’m glad I’m not a Gamma.”
- Because Bernard is not as tall as an Alpha-Plus should be, he feels insecure around the lower castes. He is always sharp and officious with those below him.
