Search for a more perfect world has led various writers to imagine their own ideas of utopia. Aldous Huxley, with both a scientific and literary background, wrote Brave New World in 1932 (Congdon). This book takes the reader to London six hundred years into the future. This stable world is filled with comfort, safety, and control. Everything is industrialized. Perhaps at first glance, this description may appeal to the reader, but a closer look reveals an undesirable and frightening world. Huxley uses parallels from his own life, his characters, and Shakespearean references to highlight the flaws of the World State. This World State is a society in which every human being is manufactured in a laboratory and they are assigned to a certain
…show more content…
He is brought to the World State with his mom, Linda, by Bernard and Lenina. John’s strength is clear, even on the reservation, when he says he wishes he were the one who had been beaten with the whip. He says, “But they wouldn’t let me. They dislike me for my complexion. It’s always been like that. Always.” (Huxley 117). This shows his willingness to be sacrificed for the good of the community. John was an outcast on the reservation where he used to live and the same is true for him in the civilization when he arrives with Bernard. Huxley shows the reader that John is not like everyone in the society. He would prefer to be unhappy rather than live in a pretend world of happiness (Huxley 179). After his mother’s death, John feels as though he can bring freedom to those who use “soma” by encouraging them to throw it away. John starts throwing the “soma” out through a window and the police are called because everyone thinks he has gone mad. The resulting conversation with Mustapha Mond reveals the differences in how each of them think the world should be. According to Meckier, while Mond thinks that nobody should have to deal with anything that does not give any satisfaction or enjoyment, John wants all the feelings, both sadness and happiness, that come with life without soma. These two characters represent two opposing moral codes (427-460). Everyone was treating John as a novelty and the reporters kept coming. …show more content…
Although John’s knowledge of Shakespeare may be surprising, Huxley explains that John found The Complete Works of William Shakespeare on the floor in the bedroom when he was only twelve. His mother explained that Pope, one of the men who visited his mother regularly, had brought it (131). She then says “I expect it’s true, because I looked at it, and it seemed to be full of nonsense. Uncivilized. Still, it’ll be good enough for you to practice your reading on.” Obviously, John studied the book and used the knowledge to form his own ideas about life. Ironically, he feels the world in London is the uncivilized one. The title Brave New World itself comes from The Tempest. Miranda says, “O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in it” (Huxley 139). John repeats these words when Bernard asks him and Linda to go to London with them because he wants to be close to Lenina. In fact, he says this is what he has been dreaming of all his life (139). Later, with a different meaning, he repeats it for a second time after he has seen the assembly line world he has just entered and he is about to be physically sick (Huxley
He is brought to the World State with his mom, Linda, by Bernard and Lenina. John’s strength is clear, even on the reservation, when he says he wishes he were the one who had been beaten with the whip. He says, “But they wouldn’t let me. They dislike me for my complexion. It’s always been like that. Always.” (Huxley 117). This shows his willingness to be sacrificed for the good of the community. John was an outcast on the reservation where he used to live and the same is true for him in the civilization when he arrives with Bernard. Huxley shows the reader that John is not like everyone in the society. He would prefer to be unhappy rather than live in a pretend world of happiness (Huxley 179). After his mother’s death, John feels as though he can bring freedom to those who use “soma” by encouraging them to throw it away. John starts throwing the “soma” out through a window and the police are called because everyone thinks he has gone mad. The resulting conversation with Mustapha Mond reveals the differences in how each of them think the world should be. According to Meckier, while Mond thinks that nobody should have to deal with anything that does not give any satisfaction or enjoyment, John wants all the feelings, both sadness and happiness, that come with life without soma. These two characters represent two opposing moral codes (427-460). Everyone was treating John as a novelty and the reporters kept coming. …show more content…
Although John’s knowledge of Shakespeare may be surprising, Huxley explains that John found The Complete Works of William Shakespeare on the floor in the bedroom when he was only twelve. His mother explained that Pope, one of the men who visited his mother regularly, had brought it (131). She then says “I expect it’s true, because I looked at it, and it seemed to be full of nonsense. Uncivilized. Still, it’ll be good enough for you to practice your reading on.” Obviously, John studied the book and used the knowledge to form his own ideas about life. Ironically, he feels the world in London is the uncivilized one. The title Brave New World itself comes from The Tempest. Miranda says, “O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in it” (Huxley 139). John repeats these words when Bernard asks him and Linda to go to London with them because he wants to be close to Lenina. In fact, he says this is what he has been dreaming of all his life (139). Later, with a different meaning, he repeats it for a second time after he has seen the assembly line world he has just entered and he is about to be physically sick (Huxley