A Brave New World Quote Analysis

Linda and Lenina are two characters from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World that stand out and challenge the assumptions of the dystopian world in which they live. Before going any further its only right that introduce the society that is presented to us in the text. The Brave New World is a society whereby hypnopaedic education is one of the key tools that is used by the government to control its populace. Characters from this world are created in labs and through in-vitro manipulation the fetuses are uniquely well suited for the various tasks intended for them. Furthermore they are subjected to conditioning throughout their lives in order to stupefy them and keep them satisfied and happy within their specific castes ranging from an intelligent managerial class down to a group of stupid individuals who perform menial work. The individuals of this world are stripped of their emotions and encouraged to live by the quote that everyone belongs to everyone else. Basically Huxley presents us with a society in which the inhabitants’ every action has been learnt and etched into their memory. But what happens when individuals, through their actions, break away from the system that has been imposed on them? Do they perhaps qualify as misfits? Through the various ways I shall work on in my

essay I hope to bring out how the experiences and actions of Lenina and Linda highlight the gray areas of conditioning and thus deem the control methods this society uses as ineffective.
Everybody belongs to everybody else is a quote from the text that keeps being repeated in the text and basically works to encourage sexual promiscuity in the New World State , it sort of subjects every individual to be freely available and respond to the sexual desires and urges of every other individual.

Lenina Crowne is a character who when first introduces to by the writer he makes sure to comment on her beauty, ‘ She was uncommonly pretty’ (page 13, chapter 1). It later comes to our attention that she was the most wanted of all the men , ‘Oh she’s a splendid girl. Wonderfully pneumatic. I’m surprised you haven’t had her.” She is later the character that rebels from this

saying.
From an intellectual point of view and the expectations of this New World State, she seems to be a perfect individual as she is always reciting the hypnopaedic sayings that are etched into her memory thanks to the conditioning she received since her childhood. Not long after she is introduced to is we see her rebelling in terms of her sexual promiscuity when she admits to her friend, Fanny about being in an unconventionally long relationship with Henry Foster. She goes against the belief that everyone belongs to everyone else and admits that ‘She hadn’t been feeling very keen on promiscuity lately.(page 36, chapter 3). Her friend, Fanny discourages her long relationship and tells her to make an effort to have more than one partner so as to avoid getting into any trouble with the director, Mustapha Mond. Lenina promises to heed her advice and turns her attention to Bernard Marx, the social misfit. Through this scene we are able to see that unlike what is expected of her, Lenina falls victim to emotional feelings, a highly discouraged feeling in the society.
Our second character Linda appears to be a very conflicted character and quite frankly the most unlucky if we follow her experiences. She began her life in the same way Lenina did as part of the New World State but then she was later left on the Savage Reservation where on beginning she had challenges fitting in as the two worlds had different beliefs. Her experiences in this world influence her rebellion against the new world state seeing as she had to conform to the ways of the Savage Reservation in order to fit in. “But of course they didn’t understand. How should they? And in the end I suppose I got used to it”(page 121, chapter) , this quote shows that even a product made for a different society given the chance can adapt and survive in a different environment thus highlighting another gray area in the conditioning because she is meant to be specifically engineered for the brave new world but nonetheless is able to survive out of it. In chapter seven the scene where she meets Lenina and Bernard whilst they are on their trip to the Reservation she is seen explaining how difficult and different life is on the reservation and especially with a son to take care of she gets life rough.
Inspite of what their conditioning allows , Linda and Lenina both experience an emotional connection towards John. Linda as a mother is by nature destined to care for her son but because of the conditioning she has been subjected most of her life she is unable to. She feels disgusted at herself for having a child yet feels that “he was a great comfort to her” (page chapter 10). She underwent confusion while raising him, by displaying no concern or worry when John shows interest in reading . This clearly shows her rebellion and breaking away from the New World State conditioning. Her struggle to truly express her love for him is brought out crystal clear when she is on her hospital bed and mistakes her son John for her lover, Pope. This shows that she has completely given into the expectations of the conditioning carried out by this society that even after raising him all his life the conditioning will not allow her to see him for who he really is. Lenina on the other hand was also emotionally connected to John from her initial meeting with him . They see each other and go on a couple of dates but due to their differences in what they want from each other they can’t be together. Towards the end she actually had feelings for him and this becomes evident when she responds to his self-flagellation with so much emotion we are told that, The young woman pressed both hands to her left side, and on that peach-bright, doll-beautiful face of hers appeared a strangely incongruous expression of yearning distress. Her blue eyes seemed to grow larger, brighter and suddenly, two tears rolled down her cheeks. Inaudibly, she spoke again; then, with a quick, impassioned gesture stretched out her arms towards the Savage, stepped forward.” (page 227, chapter 16), this is the ultimate show that Lenina has fallen victim to her emotions and therefore overcome her conditioning. She had become attached to John and seeing her cry over John who is also at self conflict with himself reveals that she is an individual who is capable of loving another.
Through this two characters it is clear to see that the conditioning that takes place in this society has serious effects on its individuals, it traps the individuals from living life with feelings . But through Lenina and Linda the mishaps in this conditioning are revealed and in one way or another these two ladies are able to overcome it and experience love and feelings despite the latter who is conflicted with it.