Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 4

After the riot in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Bernard, John, and Helmholtz are sent to meet with the Controller. John and the Controller begin to have an intellectual discussion, and the reader learns more about the banning of old books. In the middle of this conversation, the Controller mentions that Bernard and Helmholtz will be isolated on an island. After hearing of this punishment, Bernard begins to beg and plea saying, "'I tell you, it's their fault,' he sobbed. 'And not to Iceland. Oh please, your fordship, please...'" (Huxley 226). This scene shows Bernard completely betraying the only friends he has ever possessed. Bernard's motivation for this betrayal is that he does not want to be isolated on an island from society. He thinks that being sent away from the rest of the civilized world will be an embarrassment. Bernard is so distraught with the negative aspects of being sent away, that he selfishly attempts to abandon his friends. After Bernard's life had began a spinning spiral down, he finally could not take another punishment. I believe the overall motivation of this betrayal is because Bernard has finally hit rock bottom.