In Chapter 6, Huxley reveals Bernard's pained recognition of the consequences of his anti-social feelings and actions. The chapter further clarifies Bernard's very shallow attempts to be an individual and makes clear that he lacks the moral courage to suffer for freedom.
Up to now, Bernard has expressed his longing to feel something — anything — strongly. Since passion is dangerous to social stability, the very thought of feeling intensely constitutes blasphemy, as the shocked Lenina points out. All the conventions of this society — soma consumption, regular recreational sex — are designed to prevent strong feelings like rage and prolonged sexual desire from building up in emotional power. So far, Bernard has experimented with passion by avoiding soma and nursing his anger, but in this chapter, he learns about actual, unavoidable strong feelings — first at a distance, then very personally.
The D.H.C.'s shared memories of losing the young woman he was traveling with in the New Mexico reservation represent a dangerous disclosure. In spontaneously confessing his anxiety and remorse over the woman's disappearance, the D.H.C. comes perilously close to admitting that he loved her — a shocking social sin. The D.H.C.'s memory, still powerful enough to give him dreams, is Bernard's first close contact with an authentic emotional experience. But Bernard responds with a characteristically adolescent reaction; instead of responding sympathetically, he cringes and leers, at once fascinated and repulsed by the possibility of a superior's vulnerability.
