Exile In Brave New World

Cursed to a life of isolation because of his appearance, values, and outrageous thoughts, John was alienated mentally, emotionally, and physically in both the Savage Culture and the World State Culture. Torn between keeping true to his virtues and conforming to society, the treatment of John highlights the values of both cultures in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

John, also known as John the Savage, is the son of Linda and his father, who are both members of Utopia. He was born and raised on the Savage Reservation. John is an outsider both on the Reservation - where the natives still practise marriage, natural birth, family life and religion - and the apparently civilised Brave New World: a totalitarian welfare-state based on principles of stability and happiness, even if it`s a happiness of a superficial and bland nature.

John's life seemed to be one major drama after another; he didn't have a good male role model as a kid, and it seems he never was able to get on track. What was amazing about his life was the number of problems that he seemed to get into and how he wriggled out of them (with the help of a friendly person who just happened to meet him) only to run into more problems.

“You ought to know by now I wouldn’t stay away . . . No matter how it stormed. Twice a week before we were married I never missed - and there were bad blizzards that winter too.” This foreshadowed the discovery made by John later on, followed by his fateful death. Wanting to take care of his own father who lived only miles away, John was dedication to his father and his wife was unwavering.

The major development seen in John’s character takes place near the end of the story, as he seeks a more pure life in a remote location. John feels as though he’s been poisoned by this new civilization “I ate civilization. It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then, I ate my own wickedness.” (241). He wants to not only live a noble life, but to make this life on his own, so chooses an abandoned lighthouse, far enough away from the disaster of a community he views Brave New World as a negative place with negative ideas. This is a major change from the identity he showed before being poisoned by this civilization, but once again he stays true to his values by leading this new life on his own. John’s strong moral values prove to be the one constant in his character.

Having been a somewhat of an outsider in his life, physically and mentally, Aldous Huxley used what others thought as his oddities to create complex works. His large stature and creative individuality is expressed in the characters of his novel, Brave New World. In crafting such characters as Lenina, John, Linda, Bernard, and Helmholtz, not to mention the entire world he created in the text itself, Huxley incorporated some of his humanities into those of his characters. Contrastly, he removed the same humanities from the society as a whole to seem perfect. This, the essence and value of being human, is the great meaning of Brave New World. The presence and lack of human nature in the novel exemplifies the words of literary theorist Edward Said: “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Huxley’s characters reflect the “rift” in their jarred reaction to new environments and lifestyles, as well as the remnant of individuality various characters maintain in a brave new world.

This specific quote tells us from the beginning what John’s character is like and how his behavior is around people. It shows us that he is not a delinquent and is a very humble human being even through all the obstacles he went through as a teenager. The quote is showing us a sign of what the conflict might be

I honestly can’t tell if the whole world being united is a good or bad thing. Our government, the U.N.L.S. (United Nations Last Stand) says that if we didn't unite when we did we would have fought ourselves to extinction. I read stories from the past about how in a country called America people were free and could choose their own leaders. No one has lived in America for over two hundred years, it’s a nuclear wasteland. The U.N.L.S. is very strict the smallest of crimes are punished with exile. Unless you are a minor then you are not allowed to be exiled until you are 18 years old. People have not been happy with the U.N.L.S. but it has help keep crime from almost never happening. We live in what is considered the last country. We live it what was northern Europe, well at least that is what I think. A lot of the documents and

John stays away from the temptations of women and rejects the New World’s values of mentally leaving the world with the help of Soma at any unhappy thought. As John states in his conversation with Mustafa Mund, “Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it. Whether ‘tis better in the mind… But you don’t do either. Neither suffer nor oppose.”

Exile is a subject very few touch upon. Exile is never really spoken about because once you are alienated by those you once considered friends or family, a gaping hole opens and no one really knows how to explain it other than just that; a hole that can only be filled with the one place on earth you feel safe; home. When exiled, a rift opens between the individual that was cast out and their home, and family and friends. This so called “rift” that opens between a person and their “home” is evident in Brave New World with John’s life. John is a white man who is interested in the tribal customs of the Indians, in this novel called “savages”, which are very different and looked down upon by the citizens of the World State society.

This conflicts badly with his desire for self-identity. In Erikson’s theory of development, he is at the stage of ‘identity vs Role confusion’ (Tapia, 2012). That is why he is unable to resolve his own problems with others and instead results to hurting himself or hurting others. He is also in a confusion of sexual identity. The biggest contribution to this (lack of interest to girls and relationships) is his mother’s behavior, which by now he is rather aware of the situation. John is also dealing with self-guilt. The case in which he can not correct others and blames and punishes himself , this arises from his mother’s behavior. He may feels he should warn her to stop dressing and acting as she does but finds it difficult due to her being his only family and role model(Smith, & Elliott

John, the savage, is the only human in Brave New World. He despises the “civilized” world for its inhumanity and lack of morals. John loved his mother and even though she wasn't a very good one. He is the perfect balance of “civilized” and “savage”. After doing something that he heavily regrets, John subjects himself to his own discipline for his guilt.

Among all the different people we have a man named John. John was born from a mother and a father just like our world. Unlike the rest of the people John wants a family, someone only for him. John is a man with knowledge, he sees what is being done wrong with the New World people. These people do not have the ability to think for themselves they are being raised as an experiment rather than human being.

The new world only filled his life with regrets, loneliness, and depression due to the strict teachings of society which led to his demise. Society is the one responsible for the suicide of John and many others, carrying

Following his time in captivity, Reason saves him and tells him that he must distinguish what is a copy of what. Some people say that one’s love for his family or country is a copy of one’s love of the Landlord. She also mentions that “disbelief in the Landlord is a wish-fulfilment dream” (Lewis 4-4). People like the Spirit of the Age and Sigismund Enlightenment are all calling the Landlord a dream when the true dream is that there is no Landlord. John then meets Mother Kirk where she explains to him the Origin of the Landlord and the first sin of Adam. Again, John turns away from his belief in the landlord and feels he must find out the truth by himself without the help of mother Kirk. Later in his journey after meeting men like Wisdom, John concludes that if the Landlord is real then he is not his own man and has to follow the plans the Landlord has for him. This is saddening to John because he feels he cannot pursue the island anymore, which was what he thought would make him happy. Then John meets father History. He explains to John the connection between the Landlord and the island. The island is what attracts people to the true source of happiness which is the Landlord