Geyser vs. Trickle River, An Aquatic Analogy

"'Think of water under pressure in a pipe.' They thought of it. 'I pierce it once,' said the Controller. 'What a jet!' He pierced it twenty times. There were twenty piddling little fountains. Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain; fierce and foamy the wild jet. The urge has but a single outlet. My love, my baby. No wonder these poor pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable. Their world didn't allow them to take things easily, didn't allow them to be sane, virtuous, happy." -pg 41

At this point in the novel, Mustapha Mond is describing why the family and viviparous systems of the old world did not work and were replaced by the Hatcheries. He uses an extended metaphor to describe how the instinctively emotional nature of human beings could not be channeled monogamously, but rather needed many, casual channels to operate properly. The metaphor was of water pressure in a pipe. One hole in the pipe produced a geyser not easily controlled. Many, spaced out holes in the pipe produced many, evenly flowing little rivers of water.

What I learned most from this metaphor was that Mustapha Mond valued stability above all. He claimed the crowded, emotional scenarios created by families and homes were prime material for explosively messy and complicated situations. These situations produced criss-crossing motives that were to blame for all crimes of passion, hate, or confusion. To his credit, he makes a convincing point. However, taking passion, hate, and confusion out of humans makes them weird robots, much like most of the characters in this book. The members of this society can't protest or realize the manipulation, even though they are conscious of it. They are conditioned to never resist their conditioning. For the record, I which much rather be a geyser than a trickle river.