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Brave New World Chapter 6, Part 1
Lenina is thinking about Bernard, and she decides that she finds him odd. She wonders whether she should cancel the trip to New Mexico, but she decides that the opportunity is too unique to pass up. She finds Bernard harmless, but she also finds his habits strange, such as his desire to spend time alone, and to spend time alone with her. He rejects the popular games and activities, saying that they are too crowded and he'd rather talk to her alone. She does not understand and talks him into going to the Semi-Demi-Finals of the Women's Heavyweight Wrestling Championships. Bernard is unfriendly to the people she introduces him to, and he refuses soma. Trying to encourage him to take the soma, Lenina tells him some of her sleep-taught wisdom, such as "a gramme in time saves nine," Chapter 6, Part 1, pg. 89 and "One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments," Chapter 6, Part 1, pg. 89 and "A gramme is better than a damn." Chapter 6, Part 1, pg. 89 Bernard tries to get her to look at the cloudy sky and Lenina is horrified. He tries to express to her how he wishes he were free, how he feels stifled, and how he wants to break free from the enslavement of his conditioning. Lenina does not understand and offers him soma. Bernard gives up. Soon he begins to laugh, and fondles her breasts, and once they are back in their rooms, he takes a lot of soma, and he and Lenina have sex. The next afternoon, when Lenina asks him if he had fun, Bernard is pained at the way she seems to degrade herself like meat, and he tells Lenina that he had not wanted the evening to end with their going to bed. Lenina is astonished and confused, unable to comprehend any other finale to an evening with a man. Bernard again tries to express himself to her, saying that he wants to know what true passion feels like. Lenina tries to ignore him, and when that does not work, she tells him another piece of wisdom that has been taught to her through sleep-teaching: "When the individual feels, the community reels." Chapter 6, Part 1, pg. 94 Lenina tells her friend Fanny about the encounter.
