Word of Bernard's anti-establishment talk gets back to The Director. Bernard goes in to ask for a permit to visit The Savage Reservation in New Mexico with Lenina, and the Director seems surprised that he would want to go there. He tells Bernard a story of when he and a woman with yellow hair visited The Savage Reservation twenty-five years ago, and how she disappeared one night during a thunderstorm after going for a walk alone. His words trail off as he remembers...
Bernard expresses his sympathies for the director, and the Director snaps at him, denying that there was anything emotional or indiscreet about the relationship. He continues to reprimand Bernard, having heard of the views he expressed to Lenina, and threatens to send him to Iceland if he hears of any more improper behavior. Bernard leaves the room not ashamed, but proud of the individual significance he has achieved by his subversive views. He tells an exaggerated version of this to his friend Helmholtz, expecting sympathy and admiration, but it does not happen. Helmholtz likes Bernard, and recognizes that he is the only one with whom he can discuss subjects important to him, but he hates Bernard's boasting and self-pity. Helmholtz' silence makes Bernard nervous, and he leaves the room.
