How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Part.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"We also predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or […] future Directors of Hatcheries." (1.67)
Power in Brave New World stems from eliminating choice but also from giving the illusion of choice—or at least erasing any conception of choice. In other words, it allows for people to miss the freedom they don't have. In this case, such control is exerted through pre-conditioning.
Quote #5
He waved his hand again, and the Head Nurse pressed a second lever. The screaming of the babies suddenly changed its tone. There was something desperate, almost insane, about the sharp spasmodic yelps to which they now gave utterance. Their little bodies twitched and stiffened; their limbs moved jerkily as if to the tug of unseen wires.
[…]
…at the approach of the roses, at the mere sight of those gaily-coloured images of pussy and cock-a-doodle-doo and baa-baa black sheep, the infants shrank away in horror, the volume of their howling suddenly increased. (2.19-23)
This is where the real abuse of power becomes clear to us, and also where we begin to be absolutely horrified by it. But, if you think of all the adults as infantile (which we argue in "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory," and which Bernard so succinctly points out), then they are as powerless as these poor adorable little munchkins here, which means the control that the State exerts over grown-ups is just as manipulative.
Going in a completely different direction altogether, this is the only time in the novel where the State allows—and is in fact inflicting—physical pain. If John is right in thinking that suffering and enduring are both part of the human condition, then these little babies are far closer to the human experience than are the adult citizens.
Quote #6
"We condition the masses to hate the country," concluded the Director. "But simultaneously we condition them to love all country sports. At the same time, we see to it that all country sports shall entail the use of elaborate apparatus. So that they consume manufactured articles as well as transport. Hence those electric shocks." (2.33)
All the control the State has over its citizens exists to serve consumerism.