Two Poetic Friends

"Helmholtz and the Savage took to one another at once.  So cordially indeed that Bernard felt a sharp pang of jealousy.  In all these weeks he had never come to so close an intimacy with the Savage as Helmholtz immediately achieved." - Brave New World, page 182.


When I read this part of chapter 12 I was utterly surprised.  I knew that Helmholtz was more deep and emotional than the rest of the characters in the book, but I was amazed when he recited a poem he composed rather than a catchy rhyme he is expected to create.  I felt as though this character was developing into a much more intellectual being and for that reason, he and John became such great friends.  John and Bernard would never be as close because Bernard thought less poetically.


The real test came when as a response to hearing Hemholtz's poem, John recited some Shakspearean lines.  Helmholtz reacted rather excitedly but all my hopes were crushed when he finally burst into laughter after hearing of a mother and a father forcing a girl to have someone she didn't want (from Romeo and Juliet).  This was too much for Helmholtz and his conditioning immediately set in.  Darn it!  It was very close, though.  Helmholtz is able to comprehend only so much of Shakespeare, then it all seems rather unlikely only because he is conditioned to think that way.