Brave New World: ThemeTracker

The LitCharts ThemeTracker is a mini-version of the entire LitChart. The ThemeTracker provides a quick timeline-style rundown of all the important plot points and allows you to track the themes throughout the work at a glance.

	1	The Director of Hatcheries leads students on a tour of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. He explains how the embryos are mass produced into the five different castes. The tour runs into Henry Foster and Lenina Crowne. Foster reminds Lenina to meet him after work. The Director finds this charming.
	2	The Director explains the history and purpose of hypnopaedia, and shows how infants are conditioned to love their station in life.
	3	The tour watches young boys and girls play complicated games that ensure consumption and also play rudimentary sex games. Mustapha Mond interrupts the Director, and tells the tour that, in the interest of maintaining stability and happiness, the World State eliminates strong emotions by eliminating families, promoting promiscuous sex, and the drug soma.. The work day ends. Fanny chastises Lenina for only dating Henry Foster. Lenina decides to accept Bernard’s invitation to go on vacation with him..
	4	Lenina tells Bernard that she will go with him to the Reservation, then heads off on her date with Henry Foster. Bernard visits Helmholtz and they discuss their dissatisfactions with the World State. Helmholtz voices his desire to write something more powerful than mere propaganda.
	5	Lenina and Henry enjoy their date. Bernard goes to his Solidarity Service. He feels left out and self-conscious both during and after the meeting and orgy.
	6	Lenina thinks abut how oddly Bernard acted during their first date: refusing to take soma, regretting having sex so quickly, and wishing he had not been conditioned. The Director accidentally tells Bernard about getting separated from his companion during his own trip to the Reservation, then threatens to send Bernard to Iceland in order to keep him quiet.
	7	Lenina and Bernard enter the Reservation. Lenina is appalled by the poverty, dirtiness, and all of the old people. Bernard and Lenina meet John. John is entranced by Lenina. Bernard speaks with John, and realizes that John is the Director’s son.
	8	John tells Bernard his life story, about how he has always felt alone. Bernard promises to take John and Linda back to the World State with him. John asks if Bernard and Lenina are married. Bernard bursts out laughing. John says, “O brave new world, that has such people in it.”
	9	Bernard gets permission from Mustapha Mond to bring “the Savage” to London. John sees Lenina sleeping and is enraptured. He quotes Romeo and Juliet and almost touches her, but is too fearful.
	10	Upon Bernard’s return to London, the Director publicly rebukes him. Bernard turns the tables by using John and Linda to disgrace the Director.
	11	The Director resigns. London goes wild for “the Savage.” Linda drugs herself into a stupor with soma. Bernard becomes popular, and gets arrogant. Lenina takes John to a feelie, but is frustrated and confused when John doesn’t sleep with her.
	12	John refuses to appear at a party Bernard has thrown. The guests are rude to Bernard, to whom they were only being polite out of a desire to meet the Savage. Lenina thinks that John refused to appear because he didn’t want to see her. Helmholtz and John become friends and talk about Shakespeare. Helmholtz realizes that he needs “ridiculous, mad situations” to make his writing more powerful.
	13	Lenina obsesses about John and tries to seduce him. John is horrified by her lustful forwardness. John learns that Linda is dying.
	14	As Linda lies dying in the hospital next to John, the nurses bring in a group of Bokanovsky twins for death-conditioning. Linda dies. John, sobbing, pushes the Bokanovsky twins out of the way as he leaves the room.
	15	John interferes with soma dispersal to some Deltas, causing a riot. Helmholtz helps him, shouting “Men at last!” Bernard tries to slip away. The authorities take John, Helmholtz, and Bernard into custody to go see Mustapha Mond.
	16	John and Mond debate about World State society, and the value of happiness and stability versus passion, science, art, and individuality. Mond says Helmholtz and Bernard will be sent to an island.
	17	John and Mond continue debating about stability and happiness versus religion, courage, honor, and nobility. John claims the right to be unhappy.
	18	Mond doesn’t allow John to go to an island. John makes a home for himself in an abandoned lighthouse some distance from London and whips himself regularly for his impure thoughts. One day, sightseers, including Lenina, come to watch John whip himself. An orgy ensues. John hangs himself.

• ‹ previous
• 25 of 25
• next ›