How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Part.Paragraph)
Quote #13
Yes, that was true. He remembered how Helmholtz had laughed at Romeo and Juliet. "Well then," he said, after a pause, "something new that's like Othello, and that they could understand."
"That's what we've all been wanting to write," said Helmholtz, breaking a long silence. (16.23-4)
John and Helmholtz get along so well because they share the same dissatisfaction with the World State; they both want passion in their lives, the kind of passion they read about in Shakespeare.
Quote #14
"Of course it does. Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand." (16.37)
Mustapha gives words to what is likely the reader's outrage at the World State. How is it that a man as conscious and logical as Mustapha can resign himself to accept forced happiness over everything else? What is he dissatisfied with, and why does he accept this dissatisfaction?
Quote #15
"It's lucky," he added, after a pause, "that there are such a lot of islands in the world. I don't know what we should do without them." (16.67)
This is a great line, because it proves that the World State is far from perfect, and that enough people have been dissatisfied with its system to warrant a significant number of deportations. In a way, this is perhaps the most optimistic line in Brave New World—it speaks to the strength of the human spirit.