Is John A Tragic Hero Essay

In Brave New World, John the savage tries to do what he thinks is right but does that make him a tragic hero? Aristotle once said, "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." Five specific traits can define a tragic hero according to Aristotle. Three of theses traits are evoking a sense of pity from the reader, having a fatal flaw, and a moment of realization about what is wrong. Throughout Brave New World, John displays all three of these traits. John evokes a sense of pity from the reader many times in the book which is one of the reasons he is a tragic hero. According to Aristotle a tragic hero is, “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.” In Brave New World John has many unfortunate things happen to him. The reader feels pity for John when he is made into a type of attraction for people who live in the Brave New World society. An example of John being made like an attraction is, “The ape had spoken; there was a burst of laughter and hand-clapping.’Good old Savage! Hurrah, hurrah!’ And through the babel he heard cries of:’Whip, whip, the whip!’” In this example the people are happy that the Savage spoke and cheering for him to whip himself. …show more content…
John evokes pity in the reader when he is treated as if he were on display. People would come and watch him as if he were an exhibit at a zoo. John also shows hamartia in Brave New World when he talks to people in the society as if they would understand things such as love. Another trait the John shares with the typical tragic hero is anagnorisis. John exhibits anagnorisis when he tells the Deltas to stop taking the soma because it is bad for them. Since John possesses these three qualities and displays them in the book he is a tragic