"He (Mond) picked up his pen again, and under the words 'Not to be published' drew a second line, thicker and blacker than the first, then sighed, 'What fun it would be,' he though, 'if one didn't have to think about happiness'" (pg 177).
This little side story slightly saddened me. I was thinking that Mustapha was going to be the nice leader who helped Bernard in correcting all the wrongs in the Hatchery, but I now see that I was sadly mistaken. At this point in the novel, Bernard appears to have undertaken the role of protagonist, while Mustapha is the antagonist. The basis of "The New Theory of Biology" that Mond went as far as to reject twice was that instead of having an overbearing source of control (the world leaders), everyone should be able to expand their own opinions and education basically reversing all the of the Hatcheries morals.
Mond's verbal remarks further promote his position as the antagonist of the novel. Bernard has thus far been an emotional roller coaster, but he seems to embrace the emotional changes instead of seeing them as a sign of weakness. This ability to grasp the power of fluctuating emotions makes Bernard the perfect candidate for the leader able to invoke change, while Mond's fear of emotions (to the point he would rather have without them) makes him appear as though he is terrified of opposition. The close-knit bond of Hermholtz, John and Marx in this setting seems to be the array of personalities able to expose the dastardly doings of an evil world dictator.
The power possessed by Mustapha Mond is frightening for me to think about how Bernard Marx will be able to overcome. It has already been shown that Marx is afraid of the mere presence of Mond, which makes me wonder how he will be able to form an "army" to fight against Mustapha.
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| Mustapha looks like Mufasa, a lion. Lions are scary. Therefore, Mustapha is scary. |
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