"'Alone, always alone,' the young man (John) was saying.
The words awoke a plaintive echo in Bernard's mind. Alone, alone... 'So am I,' said, on a gush of confidingness. 'Terribly alone'" (pg 137).
While Bernard had always felt like an outcast, I feel like this is the moment (an epiphany, if you will) where Bernard actually realized the extent to which he had distanced himself from the rest of his Other World. This chapter was very confusing on my head because of the flashbacks and chronic use of pronouns, but from what I understand, Bernard and John seem to be paralleled throughout this chapter. The ongoing feelings of being different (Bernard's height and John's background) seem to flow in the very blood which proves they are humans (I had started considering robots). In the above dialogue, John reveals his main personality trait which is his self doubt and sense of solitude. In an epiphany, Bernard, possibly accidentally, shows reveals his similar emotions. The lack of self worth radiating from Bernard unleashed, tricking Bernard into thinking it a good idea to try to allow John and Linda to return to what John calls "a brave new world." Okay, even with my second grade reading skills, I can conclude that John's words were important there (seeing as that is the title of the novel). I am really hoping that an actual plot will start now because as of now, I only see a depressed man faced with a multitude of internal and external conflicts. It appears to me that I may have actually made a connection! Possibly, the external conflicts (discrimination) had distracted Bernard from his internal conflicts (loneliness), thus leading to his epiphany when he found someone like him.
I have had this song stuck in my head all day, and my last comment brought it back up.
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