“For instance,” [Linda] hoarsely whispered, “take the way they have one another here. Mad, I tell you, absolutely mad. Everybody belongs to everyone else- don’t they? Don’t they?” she insisted, tugging at Lenina’s sleeve. Lenina nodded her averted head, let out the breath she had been holding and managed to draw another one, relatively untainted. “Well, here,” the other went on, “nobody’s supposed to belong to more than one person. And if you have people in the ordinary way, the others think you’re wicked and anti-social. They hate and despise you….” (Huxley 121).
This passage, spoken by Linda, makes the commitment men and women have to one another “savage” compared to the relationships in the Brave New World. Linda has been a part of both worlds, yet still regards the Brave New World to be the normal way of life. As the savage reservation seems much more normal than the Brave New World to today's readers, it is all foreign to the people of the Brave New World. In the Brave New World, it is expected to have multiple sexual partners and to not get attached to one another.
Love and commitment are not concepts that are comprehended by the Brave New World. Linda is a prime example of the understanding of this. She does not know any better than to "have" as many men as she wants. Again, this had always been expected of her in the past. In the above passage, she references "the ordinary way", referring back to the Brave New World non-commital relationships, where everyone belongs to everyone else. By entering the savage reservation, her lifestyle has been looked down upon and reprimanded for belonging to more than one person.
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