"Opening her (Lenina) eyes, she had seen his face- no, not his face, a ferocious stranger's, pale, distorted, twitching with some insane, inexplicable fury. The hands that held her wrists were trembling. He breathed deeply and irregularly. Faint almost to imperceptibility, but appalling, she suddenly heard the grinding of his teeth" (pg 194).
This stark imagery used to describe the persona of John far counters his original attitude in this chapter. Before this, John and Lenina seemed to joking with each other about how much they loved each other, but now John is on the verge of a homicide. I feel the necessity of this detailed imagery surges from the clear change in attitude and the need to really drive home this change. Huxley does not reveal the reasons for this mood swing, but I believe it has something to do with Lenina's golden T necklace from the Arch-Community-Songster and her unwillingness to commit to him. Because of the lack of details, Huxley was forced to show John's mental attitude through his appearance.
The part that really strikes me in this imagery is when "she suddenly heard the grinding of his teeth." Using his mouth to show anger gives John the animalistic presence, like a lion licking her lips as she pounces the unaware antelope. I find this particularly striking because of John nature as a Savage. The stress on his mind about his mother's impending death and his love of a "pure-bred" may have forced him to snap back to his roots of hating humans. Another piece of his past, his loneliness and suicide attempts, might have resurfaced as he tries to figure out why he was not successful in ending his life.
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| How I imagine this conversation going. |
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