Brave New World Lenina Crowne Quotes

Lenina Crowne

Quote 1

"But it's horrible," said Lenina, shrinking back from the window. She was appalled by the rushing emptiness of the night, by the black foam-flecked water heaving beneath them, by the pale face of the moon, so haggard and distracted among the hastening clouds. "Let's turn on the radio. Quick!" She reached for the dialling knob on the dash-board and turned it at random.

"… skies are blue inside of you," sang sixteen tremoloing falsettos, "the weather's always…"

Then a hiccough and silence. Bernard had switched off the current.

[…]

"It makes me feel as though…" he hesitated, searching for words with which to express himself, "as though I were more me, if you see what I mean. More on my own, not so completely a part of something else. Not just a cell in the social body. Doesn't it make you feel like that, Lenina?" (6.1.17-23)

It's no coincidence that the radio is singing about blue skies while Bernard is trying to get Lenina to face the elements. Technology paints over the ugly parts of reality, but the consequence is ignorance and weakness, as we see in Lenina's character.

Lenina Crowne

Quote 2

"Dr. Wells says that a three months' Pregnancy Substitute now will make all the difference to my health for the next three or four years."

"Well, I hope he's right," said Lenina. "But, Fanny, do you really mean to say that for the next three months you're not supposed to…"

"Oh no, dear. Only for a week or two, that's all. I shall spend the evening at the Club playing Musical Bridge." (3.77-9)

Lenina is talking about sex here. The thought of going three months without it is shocking to her.

Nodding, "He patted me on the behind this afternoon," said Lenina.

"There, you see!" Fanny was triumphant. "That shows what he stands for. The strictest conventionality." (3.103-4)

This is the kind of shocking humor that pervades the novel—Huxley has directly reversed our own "strictest conventionalities." In this case, what is essentially sexual harassment is smiled upon. Also, we've been waiting since Chapter 1 to know just where he patted her. And now we know.