Helmholtz leaves and John and Mond continue their philosophical argument
they discuss religion and religious experience and Mond reads some banned religious writings to John
they are about the effect that religious sentiments are mainly an answer to the threat of loss, old age and death
as there are no losses or old age in the World State, religion is no longer necessary
John wonders whether it is natural to feel the existence of God and Mond explains that people believe what they have been conditioned to believe
John also thinks that if the people believed in the World State, they would have a reason for self-denial and chastity since God is the reason for everything noble, fine and heroic
however, Mond argues that no one in the World State is degraded because the people there just live by a different set of values
the people do not need to deal with unpleasant things and if they ever experience something negative, soma takes the pain away
thus, Mond considers soma as christianity without tears
John instead feels the need for God, poetry, danger, freedom, goodness and sin
Mond then states that John‘s wish for all those things will lead to his unhappiness
John agrees but holds on to his wishes
Chapter 18
Bernard and Helmholtz say good-bye to John and Bernard apologizes for the scene in Mond‘s office
when John asks Mond if he can join them on the islands, he refuses and tells him that he wants to continue the experiment
John decides to seclude himself in an abandoned lighthouse in the wilderness
he plants his own garden and conducts rituals of self-punishment in order to rid himself of the contamination of civilization
Delta-Minus workers see how John whips himself and the day afterwards, reporters appear at his house in order to interview him
John gets angry and gets physical, demanding them to respect his solitude
once the incident is made public, more and more people head to John‘s home and he gets more and more violent
when thinking about Lenina, he whips himself - this scene is filmed by a man and is integrated into a feely
fans of the feely visit John and Lenina descends from a helicopter and walks to John with her arms open
again, John calls her a strumpet and starts whipping her
the crowd is fascinated by that spectacle and mimicks him, singing "orgy-porgy"
at some point in time, the helicopters leave and John collapses because of soma and the excess of sensuality
the next day, he remembers his actions
bystanders read about the orgy of atonement and visit him, only to discover him having hanged himself
Function Chapters 17-18
Helmholtz and Bernard have lost their fight against the system by accepting to being exiled
by no longer being physically present, they can‘t cause that much harm to the World State any longer
discussion about religion
leads to the message of Huxley‘s dystopia: people do no longer have a purpose in their life, they only satisfy their basic needs
people need religion when they are no longer in control of their life (by growing old, by experiencing loss)
by no longer having control over one‘s own life, one is automatically part of something larger as in God‘s plan (according to Newman)
in the World State, no one ever experiences something negative, which is why they feel no need for religion
Huxley‘s message conveyed through Brave New World:
criticism of modernity in which a technocratic government plays an important role, of social sciences that are used to control the society, and of unrestrained consumerism
modernity develops to the extent that it changes human nature: aspects of humanity such as love, art, passion or culture only exist as a consequence of the experience of loss and unsatisfied desire
desires in the World State are easily satisfied through consumerism and inconvenience as the most fundamental fact of human existence is eradicated
however, even the World State is full of contradictions that show that this alteration in human nature cannot take place
although everyone belongs to everyone, Bernard Marx seldomly has contact with women at the beginning
although free love is explicitly requested, Lenina dates Henry Foster exclusively and there are feelys that propagate monogamy practiced in a helicopter
although humans and their feelings are alterated, they still long to be pregnant or to be violent and thus need to take supplements in order to feel a relief of those emotions
John‘s self-flagellation as an attempt to hold onto his values (truth over happiness)
self-flagellation as a means to deal with the pressure of the world around him
Lenina symbolizes this pressure because John is sexually attracted to her and to the vices that he actually finds disgusting and prevalent in the World State society
when she arrives at his lighthouse within the crowd, he gives into his desire and participates in an orgy
realizing that he has given in to the thing that he loathes the most, he decides to kill himself
