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Lenina enters the crowded lift and finds Bernard Marx standing in the back. She tells him she wants to talk about their New Mexico plan, but Bernard flushes and asks if they should not talk about it somewhere else. Lenina is a little astonished, but she's also touched by her effect on him, and when the lift comes to the roof, she tells him Henry is waiting for her, but to let her know about the date. Henry is waiting in the cockpit of his helicopter when Lenina arrives. She climbs in and they shoot into the air. Beneath them, Central London is filled with Centrifugal Bumble-puppy towers, Riemann-surface tennis courts, Escalator Fives Courts and Ealing stadium, where a Delta gymnastic display and community sing is in progress. An army of laborers is busy revitrifying the surface of the Great West Road, and Lenina remarks what hideous color khaki is, unconsciously echoing one of the hypnopaedic lessons. On the roof of the Centre, Bernard calls to a couple of Delta-Minus attendants to bring out his machine. He is uncomfortable dealing with these members of the lower castes, because he himself is not any taller than they are, and he knows they, like everyone else, have been subtly conditioned to associate body mass with superiority. Every time he finds himself on eye level with a Gamma, Delta or Epsilon, Bernard is reminded of his defect, and the mockery he endures among his peers makes him feel like an outsider. Feeling like an outsider, he behaves like one, which only increases the prejudice against him. He bitterly envies men like Henry Foster, who take their position for granted and never have to shout at an Epsilon to get something done. Bernard climbs into his machine and flies to a building on Fleet Street that houses the Bureau of Propaganda and the College of Emotional Engineering. On the roof, he orders the Gamma-Plus porter to ring down to Helmholtz Watson. Helmholtz is a lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering in the Department of Writing, as well as a working Emotional Engineer. He is a handsome, powerfully built man a bit too good at his job. While a physical defect has isolated Bernard, mental excess has isolated Helmholtz. Despite being enormously popular with the ladies, Helmholtz feels dissatisfied, a result of a consciousness of being set apart—an individual. Helmholtz meets Bernard on the roof, and they fly to Bernard's apartment, where they stretch out on the sofas and talk. Lately, Helmholtz has been cutting many of his activities—and his women—and now he tells Bernard about a queer feeling he has had lately, that he has something important to say, and the power to say it, but he does not know what it is. He is troubled by the fact that no matter how piercingly he writes, there is nothing behind the phrases. Can you write something about nothing? he wonders. In Chapter 4, we learn more about Bernard, who feels isolated because of a physical defect. He is shorter than other Alpha males, and society has conditioned people—Bernard included—associating height with superiority. Bernard's physical defect makes him different, and being different is dangerous in a society that depends on conformity to remain stable. Unfortunately, Bernard frequently overcompensates for his defect with grandiose ideas and petty behavior, which further alienates his peers. Another character is introduced in this chapter, Helmholtz Watson, a respected writer whose abilities have also set him apart. Helmholtz has begun to question the worth of the propaganda he produces, and wishes for something more meaningful to write about. Like Bernard, Helmholtz is an Alpha Plus. Alphas, while conditioned, are engineered for leadership roles in society, and so they are given free will—the intellect and ability to make their own choices. This makes their struggle to conform more difficult. Helmholtz craves solitude, something that is necessary for thinking and writing, but strictly discouraged for the same reason, since individual thought is a threat to the State. In Helmholtz, we see the personal impact of sacrificing art and knowledge; he is aware of a greater truth beyond social stability, and he yearns for it, but he has no idea what it is.
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