A nurse on the ward scolds John for his emotional display. What is she afraid will happen to the Bokanovsky group who are there for their death training?

The nurse is afraid that the group of Bokanovsky clones will respond negatively to John's emotional reaction to his mother's death. Children in the futuristic setting of the novel are conditioned out of human responses, such as the fear of death or empathy for the sick and dying. They are raised to be apathetic and to view life through a cold and emotionless lens. John's reaction to his mother's passing is raw and emotional, which the nurse fears will undo the children's conditioning and undermine the purpose of the death training. John falls to his knees beside his mother's bed in grief, a display the nurse views as a "scandalous exhibition." She fears that the twins will be robbed of their "innocence" by learning that some people view death as a terrible thing to be feared and grieved.