Lord Of The Flies Chapter 16 Summary

Chapter 16 starts off with Helmholtz being happy, but Bernard quite the opposite. Even though we knew from previous chapters, we are reminded that John the Savage does not like civilization. Bernard was worried how it would reflect on himself since he is friends with John. The Savage also likes reading Shakespeare, but that is prohibited. People are only conditioned to like new things and dislike anything old. John then voices his opinion about how he thinks new things are stupid. John and Helmholtz also think feelies are stupid because happiness does not equate to passion. The Savage also brings up an interesting question to Mond. He wonders why everyone cannot be an Alpha. Mond responds by saying that Alphas have separate thoughts and are individuals unlike the lower castes. The castes are conditioned to think that work is not bad and in fact they like working. I thought it was interesting that, “... extra leisure were so far from being a source of happiness” (Huxley 224). In real life, people are happy when they get time off of work.
Helmholtz and Bernard end up being sent to the Falkland Islands. Later on, we learn that Mond believes that you only need God when you are older and getting sick. Mond does not really believe in God, but John does.
It is also discussed that solitude was outlawed. I researched what would happen if solitude was outlawed. On quoteinvestigator.com, Pablo Picasso claimed that nothing can be accomplished without solitude. He claimed, “... Today it’s very difficult to be alone because we have watches. Have you ever seen a Saint wearing a watch?” (Picasso). He says no serious work is possible. However, in Brave New World, work is still able to be accomplished because they all have the same mindset and they are all conditioned to to specific