Brave New World:
Questions and Answers
October 26, 2012
Question: Why did John’s father
abandon John and Linda?
Answer: He tried to find Linda, but
couldn’t. So he left. He did not
know about John at that time. It
wouldn’t have been “right” for him
to care enough to stay.
Question: On page 49, why do they say
“ending is better than mending, ending
is better than mending”?
Answer: They want people to buy,
or consume, more things.
Question: What was Bernard’s proposal
when he talked to Linda after he talked
to the Director?
Answer:
Question: Does the director have
strong feelings for Linda or does he
just feel scared about when he lost
Linda in New Mexico?
Answer: He feels something, but it’s
not quite clear. He was
embarrassed talking about it.
Question: Why did Lenina still go on a
date with Bernard after he said so
many things she doesn’t like?
Answer: She says she still likes him
(hands, shoulders). Possibly
interested because he’s
different/new.
Question: What do Bernard and
Helmhotz think about? What’s the
difference between the two?
Answer: They think both about
changes, being individuals, free.
Different because Bernard is unsure
and insecure, but Helmholtz is very
self confident
Question: What is the main idea of
Chapter 2 and why did Huxley write
it?
Answer: Chapter two explains
hypnopædia and conditioning.
Huxley wrote it to show the readers
how the government controls
people in this society.
Question: What made Bernard
different from everybody else?
Answer: The answer isn’t quite
clear. There are rumors that alcohol
was added to his tube when he was
an embryo still developing and it
made him physically smaller.
Question: Why did the author create
this world? Are there any connections
to reality?
Answer: Huxley wrote the book to
express his views on human nature
and as a warning. There were
several very controlling
governments gaining power when
Huxley wrote the book.
Question: Why was the Director afraid
the Controller would tell the students
too much?
Answer: Mond told the students
that it was time for them to learn
history. The director was afraid that
Mond might say something about
the “forbidden books” such as Bibles
and poetry
Question: Does Bernard like the
Solidarity Service?
Answer: I think Bernard wants to
like the Solidarity Service, but he
doesn’t feel the way he is supposed
to afterwards, so it makes him upset
and lonely.
Question: Why does only Bernard want
to be free while other people listen to
the government?
 Answer: page 67: “Too little bone and
brawn had isolated Bernard from his
fellow men, and the sense of his
apartness, being, by all the current
standards, a mental excess, became in
its turn a cause of wider separation.”
Question: After Bernard went to the
Solidarity Service, why did he feel
more isolated?
Answer: He was supposed to come
away from the service feeling
peaceful and connected, like
everyone else. But he didn’t feel
that way which made him lonely.
Question: Lenina saw an old man for
the first time on the Reservation and
was really shocked. How can the new
world keep people from getting old?
Answer: (p.111) “We don’t allow
them to get like that. We preserve
them from diseases. We keep their
internal secretions artificially
balanced at a youthful
equilibrium… we give them
transfusions of young blood…”
Question: Did Lenina have feelings
for Bernard or is she just acting like
a perfect member of society?
Answer: Lenina is interested in
Bernard, but she is not strongly
attached to him. She decided to
“have” him after deciding to have
someone besides Henry
Question: If Bernard is not normal,
why does Lenina want to “have”
him?
Answer: Lenina is interested in
going to the Reservation, since not
many people can get permission to
go. She find him interesting.