The women whip Linda so she will stay away from “their men.”
Linda is from the main community, but she is living on the Reservation with the “savages.” She hates it there. She doesn’t understand them, and they do not understand her—especially the women.
Linda is attacked by a group of “savage” women for sleeping around.
Linda was on the bed. One of the women was holding her wrists. Another was lying across her legs, so that she couldn't kick. The third was hitting her with a whip. Once, twice, three times; and each time Linda screamed. (Ch. 8)
When John, Linda’s son, asks her why they are whipping her, she says she doesn’t know. She doesn’t understand why the women would be upset that she was sleeping with their mates.
"I don't know. How should I know?" It was difficult to hear what she said, because she was lying on her stomach and her face was in the pillow. "They say those men are their men," she went on … (Ch. 8)
For Linda, sleeping with multiple people was a fact of life. It was in fact expected in her society, and if you didn’t do it you were considered odd. The concept of monogamy is not only unheard of but frowned upon.
When John calls Linda “mother,” she slaps him, saying, “I'm not your mother. I won't be your mother.” She complains about being turned into a savage. In the civilization Linda came from, “mother” is a foul word, considered obscene. This is because everyone is born from a test tube. Just as having one mate is unacceptable, having a child the natural way is considered immoral.
Linda ended up on the reservation when Tomakin, The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, brought her there and left her because she was pregnant, which would be a great scandal back home. Linda took precautions but still ended up with John, a situation she cannot tolerate. This is why she both loves and hates John. She has some motherly instincts, but he reminds her of everything she has lost.
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