Chapter 13

An hour later, in the Changing Room, Fanny was energetically protesting. “But

it’s absurd to let yourself get into a state like this. Simply absurd,” she repeated.

“And what about? A man-one man.”

“But he’s the one I want.”

“As though there weren’t millions of other men in the world.”

“But I don’t want them.”

“How can you know till you’ve tried?”

“I have tried.”

“But how many?” asked Fanny, shrugging her shoulders contemptuously.

“One, two?”

“Dozens. But,” shaking her head, “it wasn’t any good,” she added.

An hour later, in the Changing Room, Fanny w...

“But in the intervals I still like him. I shall always like him.”

“Well, if that’s the case,” said Fanny, with decision, “why don’t you just go and

take him. Whether he wants it or no.”

“But if you knew how terribly queer he was!”

“All the more reason for taking a firm line.”

“It’s all very well to say that.”

“Don’t stand any nonsense. Act.” Fanny’s voice was a trumpet; she might have

been a Y.W.F.A. lecturer giving an evening talk to adolescent Beta- Minuses.

“Yes, act-at once. Do it now.”

“But in the intervals I still like him. I shall always like h...

“You don’t seem very glad to see me, John,” she said at last.

“Not glad?” The Savage looked at her reproachfully; then suddenly fell on his knees before her and, taking Lenina’s hand, reverently kissed it. “Not glad? Oh, if you only knew,” he whispered and, venturing to raise his eyes to her face,

“Admired Lenina,” he went on, “indeed the top of admiration, worth what’s

dearest in the world.” She smiled at him with a luscious tenderness. “Oh, you so perfect” (she was leaning towards him with parted lips), “so perfect and so peerless are created” (nearer and nearer) “of every creature’s best.” Still nearer. The Savage suddenly scrambled to his feet. “That’s why,” he said speaking with averted face, “I wanted to do something first. I mean, to show I was worthy of you. Not that I could ever really be that. But at any rate to show I wasn’t absolutely un-worthy. I wanted to do something.”

“You don’t seem very glad to see me, John,” she said at la...

“For Ford’s sake, John, talk sense. I can’t understand...

“For Ford’s sake, John, talk sense. I can’t understand a word you say. First it’s vacuum cleaners; then it’s knots. You’re driving me crazy.” She jumped up and, as though afraid that he might run away from her physically, as well as with his mind, caught him by the wrist. “Answer me this question: do you really like me, or don’t you?”

There was a moment’s silence; then, in a very low voice, “I love you more than anything in the world,” he said.

“Then why on earth didn’t you say so?” she cried, and so intense was her exasperation that she drove her sharp nails into the skin of his wrist. “Instead of drivelling away about knots and vacuum cleaners and lions, and making me

miserable for weeks and weeks.”

Zip! The rounded pinkness fell apart like a neatly divided apple. A wriggle of the arms, a lifting first of the right foot, then the left: the zippicamiknicks were lying lifeless and as though deflated on the floor. Still wearing her shoes and socks, and her rakishly tilted round white cap, she advanced towards him. “Darling. Darling! If only you’d said so before!” She held out her arms.

But instead of also saying “Darling!” and holding out his arms, the Savage retreated in terror, flapping his hands at her as though he were trying to scare away some intruding and dangerous animal. Four backwards steps, and he was brought to bay against the wall.

Zip! The rounded pinkness fell apart like...

“Ow, you’re hurting me, you’re. oh!” She was sudden...

“Ow, you’re hurting me, you’re. oh!” She was suddenly silent. Terror had made her forget the pain. Opening her eyes, she had seen his face-no, not his face, a ferocious stranger’s, pale, distorted, twitching with some insane, inexplicable fury. Aghast, “But what is it, John?” she whispered. He did not answer, but

only stared into her face with those mad eyes. The hands that held her wrists were trembling. He breathed deeply and irregularly. Faint almost to imperceptibility, but appalling, she suddenly heard the gneding of his teeth. “What is

it?” she almost screamed. And as though awakened by her cry he caught her by the shoulders and shook her.

“Whore!” he shouted “Whore! Impudent strumpet!”

“Oh, don’t, do-on’t,” she protested in a voice made grotesquely tremulous by his shaking.

The Savage pushed her away with such force that she staggered and fell. “Go,” he shouted, standing over her menacingly, “get out of my sight or I’ll kill you.”

He clenched his fists. Lenina raised her arm to cover her face. “No, please don’t, John .”

“Hurry up. Quick!” One arm still raised, and following his every movement with a terrified eye, she scrambled to her feet and still crouching, still covering her head, made a dash for the bathroom.

The noise of that prodigious slap by which her departure was accelerated was like a pistol shot.

The Savage pushed her away with such force that s...

Ed Gein

Augusta Gein, a fervent Lutheran, preached to her boys the innate immorality of the world, the evil of drinking, and the belief that all women (herself excluded) were prostitutes and instruments of the devil. She reserved time every afternoon to read to them from the Bible, usually selecting graphic verses from the Old Testament dealing with death, murder, and divine retribution...Gein tried to make his mother happy, but she was rarely pleased with her boys. She often abused them, believing that they were destined to become failures like their father. During their teens and throughout their early adulthood, the boys remained detached from people outside of their farmstead, and so had only each other for company.

Ed Gein

Henry Lee Lucas

He described his mother, Viola Lucas, as a violent prostitute. His father, Anderson Lucas, was an alcoholic and former railroad employee who had lost his legs in a train accident, and who suffered from Viola's wrath as often as his son. Lucas reports that Viola regularly beat him and his half-brother, often for no reason. He once spent three days in a coma when his mother hit his head with a plank of wood, and on many occasions he was forced by his mother to watch her have sex with men. Lucas described an incident when he was given a mule as a gift by his father's friends, only to see his mother shoot and kill it.

Lenina's nakedness may reflect the unveiling of her society’s true nature. Like Lenina, the society seemingly promotes beauty, happiness, and perfection. However, when stripped of its garments, the society appears just as base and human as the Indian society that John left.

Lenina's nakedness may reflect the unveiling of h...

The entire scene of Lenina going to John is an assertion of individuality, but after her stripping naked causes John to erupt in violence, she immediately reverts to the security of her sociological ideals.

The entire scene of Lenina going to John is an assertion ...

John and Lenina will never have a relationsh...

John and Lenina will never have a relationship. Their respective cultures are far too different from each other.