In the hospital scene, what initial action does John take to influence staff about the drug?

• A. He appeals to Mond for guidance.
• B. He seizes the soma and throws it out the window.
• C. He calls to the deltas to give up the drug.
• D. He orders restraint on the patients.

Answer: (C)

John’s action centers on challenging the drug’s hold by directly addressing the people who dispense it—the deltas. By calling to the deltas to give up the drug, he targets the mechanism of control at its source and tries to disrupt soma distribution from within the system. This move fits his position in the scene as someone who doesn’t have formal authority but can provoke change by prompting those who actually administer the drug to reject it. Appealing to Mond would rely on a distant authority, grabbing the drug would be impulsive and risky, and ordering restraint would require power John doesn’t possess. In Brave New World, soma keeps the population docile, so encouraging the staff to abandon it is the most direct, early challenge to that control.