Reading Journal: Brave New World (Chapters 7-12)

My Questions:
1.  Why would the World State give the people of the reservation a chance to get out of their home to go to the World State?
2.  What's going to happen to people like Lenina if/when the World State runs out of soma?
3.  How would Lenina's reaction to John have been different if she wasn't so dependent on soma?

My Answers:
1.  While I was reading, I kept wondering why the World State would let people from the Reservation go to their (the World State) world.  Mustapha Mond says, in regards to having Bernard bring John and Linda with him, "Yes, I do find it of sufficient scientific interest.  Bring these two individuals back to London with you" (Huxley 150).  This was really the only insight that the readers gather about the reasoning behind letting Bernard take the two beings.  There are two options that I see as the World State's actual reasoning.  The first is that the people of the Reservation actually are of scientific interest, since no one really studies these beings.  The World State might be able to use them for some scientific purpose.  The second reason would be that there lies a hidden cause underneath their approval of letting people (like Bernard) take other people from the Reservation home with them.  Maybe that reason will be revealed later on in the book.
2.  Lenina is clearly extremely dependent on soma, as are many of the people in her society.  The reader has to wonder whether or not the nation will eventually run out of its means for making soma, since so many are in demand.  What is to become of the people without their soma?  Lenina constantly says, "Oh, I wish I had my soma!" and "I wish I had my soma!" when she doesn't have any with her (Huxley 125).  I think that maybe if she didn't have her soma, or didn't even know there was such a thing, she's be a lot stronger as a person (this is applicable to all of the characters who are always taking soma to block out the negativities of their lives).  She wouldn't be so dependent, and she might be able to face and handle her own problems, instead of drowning them out.
3.  "Drying her eyes, Lenina walked across the roof to the lift.  On her way to the twenty-seventh floor she pulled out her soma bottle.  One gramme, she decided would not be enough; hers had been more than a one-gramme affliction.  But if she took two grammes, she ran the risk of not waking up in time to-morrow morning.  She compromised and, inter her cupped left palm, shook out three half-gramme tablets" (Huxley 177).  This is what Lenina results to after she was "rejected" by John.  The quote describes how she measures and handles her grievances, which can give a good idea of how she handles every other problem in her life.  I think maybe if Lenina was not so dependent on the soma, she might be very strong and able to handle situations like these, as I stated before.  In this particular situation, I definitely think she would have persisted with John, maybe even tried to list reasons about why he should be with her, had she not been dependent on soma.  Lenina could be much stronger when dealing with John if she didn't resort to soma every time she had a problem.