The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning leads a group of new students on a tour of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. The facility operates under the World State's motto: "Community, Identity, Stability."

The tour demonstrates the advanced reproductive technology of this dystopian future society. The Director and Mr. Foster explain the Bokanovsky Process, which allows one fertilized egg to divide into up to 96 identical embryos, creating standardized batches of human beings. This mass production of humans is considered essential for social stability.

The students observe the various stages: the Fertilizing Room, the Bottling Room, and the Embryo Store. Embryos are classified into castes (Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons) and are conditioned during their development for specific roles in society. Lower castes receive oxygen deprivation to limit their intelligence and physical development.

The tour reveals a society that has completely industrialized human reproduction, predestining individuals from conception to fulfill predetermined social roles. Lenina Crowne, an attractive worker, is briefly introduced as she inoculates embryos.

The tour continues to the Infant Nurseries and Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Rooms. The Director demonstrates a conditioning experiment on Delta-caste babies. The infants are placed near books and flowers, then subjected to loud alarms and electric shocks when they approach them. After repeated exposures, the babies develop a conditioned aversion to books and nature.

The Director explains this is done for economic reasons - lower castes must not waste time reading or enjoying free natural pleasures, but they must still consume transport and manufactured goods for country sports.

The concept of "hypnopaedia" (sleep-teaching) is introduced through the story of Little Reuben, who accidentally absorbed a radio broadcast while sleeping. Though early experiments failed to use it for intellectual education, hypnopaedia proved effective for moral conditioning and instilling social values.

The chapter reveals that in this society, concepts like "mother," "father," and "parent" are considered obscene, and families have been abolished. The conditioning system ensures people accept their predetermined roles and consume products to maintain economic stability.

This chapter alternates between multiple storylines. Outside in the gardens, the Director's tour observes children engaging in mandatory erotic play - sexual exploration among children is encouraged and considered normal in this society.

Mustapha Mond, the Resident Controller for Western Europe (one of the Ten World Controllers), joins the group and lectures about history. He explains why history is suppressed - the past with its families, emotions, and instability would undermine the World State's control.

Meanwhile, Lenina Crowne finishes her work shift and discusses her personal life with her friend Fanny in the women's changing room. Fanny criticizes Lenina for being too exclusive with Henry Foster and encourages her to be more promiscuous, as prolonged relationships with one person are socially disapproved.

Bernard Marx, an Alpha-Plus psychologist, is introduced as an outsider. He's physically smaller than other Alphas (rumored to be from alcohol in his blood-surrogate) and exhibits non-conformist behavior, making him unpopular.

The chapter establishes the social philosophy of the World State: "Community, Identity, Stability" achieved through promiscuity, consumption, and the drug soma for instant happiness.

Lenina accepts Bernard Marx's invitation to visit the Savage Reservation in New Mexico, surprising everyone since Bernard is considered odd and socially inadequate. Their conversation reveals Bernard's discomfort with public displays and his unconventional attitudes.

The chapter splits into two parts. In the first section, Lenina and Henry Foster take a helicopter ride over London, observing the industrialized landscape including the Slough Crematorium, where human bodies are efficiently processed to recover phosphorus. They spend an evening playing Obstacle Golf, taking soma, and attending a cabaret.

The second section focuses on Bernard Marx's inner turmoil. He feels alienated from society due to his physical shortcomings and unconventional thoughts. Unlike others, he doesn't find fulfillment in casual sex, soma, and meaningless entertainment.

Bernard attends a Solidarity Service, a religious ceremony dedicated to "Ford" (Henry Ford, worshipped as a god in this society). Despite the ritual designed to create communal unity through hymns, soma, and orgiastic behavior, Bernard cannot achieve the sense of belonging others experience, leaving him feeling even more isolated and miserable.

The chapter is divided into two sections. The first follows Lenina and Henry as they finish their game of Obstacle Golf at sunset and fly over London. They observe the crematorium's phosphorus recovery system and discuss the efficiency of the World State. Everyone is conditioned to be happy with their caste position.

They have dinner, take soma, and visit the Westminster Abbey Cabaret for entertainment featuring "sexophones" and synthetic music. The evening ends with them spending the night together - casual sex being the social norm.

The second section depicts Bernard Marx attending his fortnightly Solidarity Service. Twelve people gather in a circular room for a ritualistic ceremony honoring "Ford." The service involves hymns, soma consumption ("I drink to my annihilation"), and works toward a collective ecstasy where individual identity dissolves into group unity.

Despite participating in all the rituals, Bernard fails to achieve the transcendent group experience. While others claim to feel Ford's presence and achieve spiritual unity, Bernard remains trapped in his individual consciousness, unable to lose himself in the collective. He pretends to have felt it and leaves feeling even more isolated and hypocritical than before.

Lenina finds Bernard increasingly odd as they prepare for their trip to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico. Bernard refuses to engage in normal social activities, preferring solitude and contemplation over crowds and entertainment. He wants to be alone with Lenina to talk, which she finds incomprehensible.

During a helicopter ride over the Channel, Bernard hovers above the stormy sea and tries to share his feelings of individuality and alienation with Lenina. He expresses his desire to be "more me" and questions the conditioning that makes everyone happy. Lenina is disturbed by his blasphemous thoughts and clings to her hypnopaedic phrases like "Everybody's happy nowadays."

Before leaving for New Mexico, Bernard visits the Director to get his signature on the permit. The Director unexpectedly shares a personal story about visiting the Savage Reservation twenty-five years earlier with a woman who disappeared during a storm and was never found. He becomes emotional, then embarrassed by this display of feeling.

Bernard and Lenina arrive at the Savage Reservation, a fenced area where "primitive" humans live without World State technology. The contrast shocks and disgusts them both, setting up the encounter that will change their lives.

Bernard and Lenina visit the pueblo of Malpais on the Savage Reservation. Lenina is horrified by everything she sees: the dirt, disease, old age, poverty, and lack of technology. They witness a religious ritual featuring snakes and drums that deeply unsettles her.

Most shocking to both visitors is the sight of genuine old age - wrinkled, deteriorating bodies unlike anything in their world where youth is preserved until sudden death at sixty. Lenina also sees women breastfeeding their babies, a sight she finds obscene and indecent.

They encounter a young man named John who speaks English (though strangely, quoting Shakespeare). John introduces them to his mother, Linda, who turns out to be from the "civilized" world. She was the woman the Director mentioned - she got lost on the Reservation twenty-five years ago while pregnant and couldn't return due to the shame of having a child.

Linda has become fat, aged, and degraded, desperate for soma and unable to fit into pueblo society. John, called "the Savage," was raised on the Reservation but taught about civilization by Linda. He learned to read from a volume of Shakespeare's complete works, which shaped his romantic, passionate worldview - completely at odds with both the pueblo culture and the World State.

John (the Savage) tells Bernard his life story. He describes his difficult childhood in Malpais, where he was ostracized as an outsider. His mother Linda couldn't adapt to pueblo life - she was promiscuous according to her World State conditioning, which violated pueblo marriage customs and made her hated by the women.

John recounts painful memories: men visiting Linda, her drinking mescal (which she called soma), women beating her for sleeping with their husbands, and Linda's alternating neglect and affection toward him. He was excluded from pueblo rituals and traditions because he was different.

His one consolation was Linda's stories about the "Other Place" (civilization) and a book of Shakespeare's plays she gave him. Shakespeare became John's education, shaping his understanding of love, honor, beauty, and morality in ways completely alien to both cultures.

John describes his love for Kiakimé, a pueblo girl, and his desperate attempt to prove himself worthy through suffering and tribal rituals. When he was excluded from the tribal coming-of-age ceremony, he tried to crucify himself to show his devotion.

Bernard realizes John is the Director's son - a sensational discovery that could be used against the Director, who threatened to exile Bernard to Iceland for his nonconformity.

After their disturbing day at the pueblo, Lenina takes a large dose of soma and falls into an 18-hour sleep. Bernard stays awake formulating a plan.

The next morning, Bernard flies to Santa Fe and contacts Mustapha Mond directly. The World Controller grants permission to bring John and Linda back to London, recognizing their scientific interest. Bernard obtains all necessary permits and returns to Malpais, feeling triumphant and important from his contact with high authority.

Meanwhile, John comes to the rest-house looking for Bernard and Lenina but finds the door locked. Thinking they've abandoned him, he's devastated and cries. Eventually he looks through the window and sees Lenina's suitcase, filling him with joy.

John breaks into the room and goes through Lenina's belongings with reverent fascination - her clothes, perfume, and powder. He's enchanted by the zippers and fabric, experiencing everything as precious relics of the woman he's falling in love with.

He discovers Lenina asleep in the next room. Kneeling beside her bed, John quotes Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, torn between his desire and his idealized notion of "pure and vestal modesty." Just as he contemplates unzipping her clothes, he hears Bernard's helicopter returning and rushes out to meet him.

Bernard, John, and Linda return to London. The Director decides to make an example of Bernard by publicly denouncing him in the Fertilizing Room before exiling him to Iceland for his unorthodox behavior.

In front of all the high-caste workers, the Director delivers a scathing speech about Bernard's heresies - his views on sport and soma, his scandalous sex-life, and his refusal to behave properly. He announces Bernard will be dismissed and transferred to Iceland as punishment for being a subverter of Order and Stability.

Just as the Director finishes his condemnation, Bernard springs his trap. He brings in Linda, now bloated and aged, shocking everyone with her grotesque appearance. Linda recognizes the Director as "Tomakin" - the man who got her pregnant twenty-five years ago on the Savage Reservation.

Then John enters and, to everyone's horror and the Director's humiliation, kneels before him calling him "father" - the ultimate obscenity in this society. The Director, utterly disgraced by the revelation that he's a father, resigns immediately and never returns to the Centre.

Bernard's revenge is complete, and he suddenly finds himself in a position of power as John's guardian.

John becomes an instant celebrity - the exotic "Savage" everyone wants to meet. Linda, however, is shunned for her repulsive appearance and her status as a "mother." She retreats into permanent soma-induced oblivion, taking massive doses that will eventually kill her. John objects, but the doctor argues she's better off on continuous soma-holiday than facing reality. Linda remains in a drugged stupor, lost in hallucinations.

As John's guardian, Bernard suddenly enjoys unprecedented social success. People who once mocked him now court his favor desperately seeking invitations to meet the Savage. Bernard revels in his newfound popularity, hosting parties attended by the most important people in society.

However, Bernard's success goes to his head. He becomes arrogant and boastful, particularly irritating his friend Helmholtz Watson by bragging about his sexual conquests. Helmholtz, a lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering and gifted writer, is disappointed by Bernard's shallow response to success.

John, meanwhile, is disillusioned by civilization. He's fascinated by some aspects but appalled by others. He finds Lenina attractive but is disturbed by the casual attitudes toward sex and relationships. The gulf between his Shakespearean ideals and the reality of the World State becomes increasingly apparent.

John refuses to attend one of Bernard's parties where the Arch-Community-Songster of Canterbury is the guest of honor. When Bernard begs him to appear, John locks himself in his room and shouts Zuñi curses, telling Bernard to "go to hell."

Bernard's social status collapses instantly. The distinguished guests, including the Arch-Songster, are furious at being tricked into attending. They turn on Bernard viciously, remembering all his faults and heresies. His brief period of popularity evaporates, and he becomes an object of contempt again.

Lenina is devastated, believing John refused to come because he doesn't like her. She's developing genuine feelings for him - an unusual and troubling emotional attachment in this world of casual sex.

The next day, John explains his revulsion to Bernard and Helmholtz. After taking them to see Linda permanently drugged on soma, John expresses his disgust with civilization - the mindless entertainment, the feelies, the lack of genuine emotion or beauty. He quotes Miranda's line from The Tempest: "O brave new world that has such people in it," but with bitter irony.

Helmholtz and John form an instant bond, recognizing each other as kindred spirits and fellow outsiders. Bernard feels jealous and excluded from their friendship.

Lenina, consumed by her feelings for John, seeks advice from Fanny. Her friend is alarmed that Lenina has been fixated on one man for months, which is dangerously abnormal behavior. Fanny urges her to either seduce John immediately or take soma and be with other men.

Lenina decides to pursue John directly. She goes to his apartment and confesses her attraction to him. John is overjoyed, interpreting her words through his Shakespearean ideals of romantic love. He speaks passionately of devotion and doing deeds to prove himself worthy of her.

But when John talks of marriage and lifetime commitment, Lenina doesn't understand. In her world, such concepts don't exist. Frustrated by his flowery speech, she simply begins undressing, expecting casual sex as normal.

John is horrified by what he sees as Lenina's promiscuity and lack of virtue. His romantic idealization shatters. In a rage, calling her "whore" and "impudent strumpet," he violently drives her away. Lenina locks herself in the bathroom, terrified and confused.

At that moment, John receives a phone call that Linda is dying. He rushes to the hospital, leaving Lenina behind, their mutual incomprehension complete.

John rushes to Park Lane Hospital for the Dying where Linda lies in a coma from soma overdose. The hospital is designed to condition children to accept death cheerfully - it's filled with toys, television, and chocolate éclairs to make dying pleasant and eliminate any fear.

John is appalled to find groups of identical Delta children running around Linda's bed as part of their death-conditioning exercises. They've been brought to watch people die so they'll view death as normal and unimportant.

John sits by Linda's bedside, trying to connect with her, calling her "Mother" - a word that makes the Delta children giggle with embarrassment. Linda, deep in soma-induced hallucination, briefly surfaces to consciousness but confuses John with Popé and others from her past.

John desperately tries to reach her, to have one genuine moment with his mother, but she slips away. As she dies, John weeps - genuine grief that the children find bizarre and the nurse views as morbid.

The casual, efficient attitude toward death and the children's conditioning to see it as insignificant fills John with rage and despair. His mother's lonely, meaningless death in this sterile environment epitomizes everything he hates about civilization.

Still reeling from Linda's death, John encounters a group of Delta workers receiving their soma ration at the hospital. In his grief and anger, he sees the soma distribution as the ultimate symbol of society's slavery and decides to free them.

John makes an impassioned speech about freedom and humanity, urging the Deltas to throw away their soma. He quotes Shakespeare and calls them slaves. Then he grabs the soma boxes and hurls them out the window, scattering pills everywhere.

The Deltas, conditioned to crave soma and conformity, are horrified. They attack John in a frenzy to recover their drug. A riot breaks out.

Bernard and Helmholtz arrive. Bernard hesitates, fearing the consequences, but Helmholtz immediately rushes in to help John. Together, John and Helmholtz fight the mob while Bernard dithers uselessly.

Police arrive with soma vapor and recorded hypnopaedic messages urging calm. The Voice of Reason broadcasts soothing platitudes about happiness and order. The riot is quickly suppressed.

John, Helmholtz, and Bernard (who finally joined in) are arrested and taken to meet Mustapha Mond, the World Controller, for judgment.

John, Helmholtz, and Bernard are brought before Mustapha Mond. The Controller proves to be highly intelligent and well-read, even knowing Shakespeare (though such books are forbidden to others).

Mond engages in a philosophical debate with John about civilization and freedom. He explains that the World State chose stability over truth and beauty. Art, science, and religion were sacrificed because they create passion, conflict, and instability. He reveals he was once a scientist who discovered dangerous truths and was given a choice: exile to an island or become a Controller and suppress such knowledge.

Mond argues that people are happier with soma, promiscuity, and trivial pleasures than they would be with freedom, art, and real emotions. The society eliminates suffering by eliminating everything that makes life meaningful.

Helmholtz accepts this analysis and actually looks forward to exile on an island where other independent thinkers live - he sees it as an opportunity for real experience and writing. Bernard, however, grovels and begs not to be exiled, revealing his cowardice.

Mond explains that islands are where they send people who are too individualistic - it's both punishment and a kind of reward, separating nonconformists from the controlled masses.

After Helmholtz and Bernard are taken away, John continues his debate with Mustapha Mond. Their conversation becomes the philosophical heart of the novel.

John argues for the value of God, poetry, danger, freedom, and sin. Mond counters that religion is unnecessary when people are conditioned to be happy and never face aging, loss, or hardship. God is only needed when people suffer, and the World State has eliminated suffering.

Mond explains that Christianity and other religions required self-denial and produced passion - both dangerous to stability. The society replaced God with Ford and made happiness a right rather than something earned through struggle.

John passionately defends the right to be unhappy, to suffer, to grow old, to be free even if that means making mistakes. He claims the right to all human experiences - love, loss, danger, poetry - everything the World State has eliminated for the sake of comfort.

Mond calmly acknowledges that John is "claiming the right to be unhappy," along with the right to disease, war, fear, and all forms of human suffering. John accepts this, affirming "I claim them all."

The Controller smiles sadly and lets John go, knowing what will likely happen.

Unable to live in civilization, John retreats to an abandoned lighthouse in the countryside to live as a hermit. He plans to purify himself through solitude, prayer, and self-punishment, growing his own food and making his own bow and arrows.

John practices self-flagellation, whipping himself to purge his guilt and desire - particularly his feelings for Lenina. He wants to cleanse himself of all civilized corruption.

A reporter discovers John's hideout and films him whipping himself. The footage becomes a sensation. Crowds of curiosity-seekers descend on the lighthouse, treating John's suffering as entertainment, like a particularly thrilling "feely."

Lenina arrives with the crowd. Seeing her, John's suppressed emotions explode. He attacks her with his whip while the mob watches excitedly, thinking it's a show. The crowd's frenzy triggers an orgy that John is swept into, abandoning all his principles in a moment of madness.

The next morning, John wakes to the horror of what he's done - he has become what he despised. When curious crowds arrive expecting another spectacle, they find John has hanged himself.

The novel ends with John's feet slowly twisting as his body hangs - a final surrender to the impossible conflict between his ideals and reality.