Chapter 9

• Lenina is so overwhelmed and repulsed by the Reservation that she takes an overdose of soma which knocks her out for 18 hours
• in the meantime, Bernard flies to Santa Fe in order to talk to Mustapha Mond about bringing Linda and John back to London as they are of scientific interest
• he has to repeat that story to various secretaries before meeting the World Controller
• Bernard is instructed to go to the Reservation‘s Warden in order to get the release-permit for John and Linda
• back in the Reservation, John breaks into Lenina‘s and Bernard‘s apartment because he fears that they have departed without him
• however, he notices that Lenina‘s suitcase is still there and goes through her things
• when he hears a noise from another room, he follows it and finds Lenina passed out on the bed
• seeing her, he expresses his feelings by quoting some passages from Romeo and Juliet
• John is so touched by her pristine presence that he wants to touch her but thinks of himself as unworthy and too dirty to do so
• staring at her, a sound from outside indicates that Bernard is returning with his helicopter
• John rushes out of the house

Chapter 10

• setting: London, the Hatchery
• the Director informs Henry that he wants to set a warning example by dismissing Bernard in front of high-caste members because his behavior threatens the stability of the World State
• the Director also believes that sometimes, a single individual needs to be sacrificed in order for the greater good
• shortly after Bernard‘s arrival, the Director proclaims Bernard to be a heretic since he rebels against the government with his attitude towards soma, sex and the system in general
• he also exiles Bernard to Iceland
• however, Bernard rebels against that by presenting Linda and John to him
• Linda claims that the Director made her having a baby and everybody falls silent in the room
• John recognizes the Director as his father, kneels in front of him and screams "My father" (p. 131)
• the audience breaks out in laughter and the Director leaves the room hastily

Function Chapters 9-10

• shift of setting from the Reservation to the World State
  
  • marks the beginning conflict between John‘s values and the social conventions carried out in the World State
  • that shift also predicts the shift that is about to change Bernard‘s and John‘s life
• John‘s character and his values are described in more detail
  
  • on one side, he struggles to adhere to social conventions of the World State because he desperately wants to touch the sleeping Lenina but does not do so
  • he has internalized the moral codes of the Reservation as well as of Shakespeare‘s fictive worlds - this dictates his behavior which is why he cannot satisfy his sexual desire in the same way that World State residents would have done
  • in fact, John lives in the World State, but has never learned and internalized World State behavior and conditioning
  • his view on sex is different from Lenina‘s which is why an upcoming conflict seems inevitable
  • John faces a constant struggle between his self control and his desires
• the confrontation between Bernard and the Director as an illustration of power play
  
  • the Director puts Bernard to public shame because his behavior differentiates from social conventions
  • in turn, Bernard beats the Director with his own weapons by presenting John and Linda to him - the epitome of shamefulness
  • by doing so, Bernard is characterized as someone who will do anything in order to be socially accepted: he saves his own position, disgraces the Director and reduces the Director‘s social reputation
• Lenina has a passive role within these chapters as she is on soma-holiday due to the negative emotions she feels, when in fact, she should have been on her real holiday at the Reservation