John the Savage is an intriguing character to say the least, with an even more intriguing background. Son of the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning in a “new world” that he has only heard stories about, living on a secluded reservation that is unknown to the rest of the world, merely trying to fit in with the other natives. He’s been seen as an outcast practically since birth and doesn’t understand why. Once he is invited to the “new world”, he experiences exile and seems to enjoy it, until he realizes how different it his from his home.
“O brave new world that has such people in it. Let’s start at once” (Huxley 139). It’s evident John was rather excited about this journey and not in the least bit concerned with leaving his homeland. As stated before, John has experienced his own sense of exile from a very early age. “Alone, always alone,” he told Bernard. “Do you know, they shut me out of absolutely everything?” (Huxley 137) He was hurt from all of the years of being left out, and saw this as an opportunity for change. Upon arrival, and after falling on his knees before his father, “...all upper caste London was wild to see this delicious creature…” (Huxley 153). He was seen as a celebrity to all of London simply because he was the Director's son. This abrupt fame provided John with a sense of importance that he had longed for, for his whole life. He was actually liked and wanted, especially By Lenina. “I shall be seeing him, talking to him, telling him...that I like
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.
In the society described in the story John is shown to be different from the others in his civilization. Unlike others he is curious, willing to take risks, or even break rules. This was made apparent when John recalled when he went to the Dead Places, touched a piece of metal and did not die "(S)o he knew that I was truly his son and would be a priest in my time. That was when I was very young- nevertheless, my brothers would not have done it"(Benet 76). This quote directly shows one way that John is different and more daring than the rest of his brothers. John's more courageous attributes can be viewed as something extraordinary due to the fact that he discovered so much throughout the book. However this trait may also be looked
Isolation can force an individual to make irrational choices by clouding their sense of cogent judgement. In Ross Sinclair’s short story, “The Painted Door,” the characteristics forced onto an individual as a result of confinement are clearly shown. Living on a small farm, John and Ann are faced with winter weather that is almost impossible to travel in. When their closest neighbor is five miles away, it’s hard for them to live in such a world where communication is sparse. Forced to live in such a world of isolation, Steven, Ann and John’s judgement to make rash decisions is limited and has a substantial impact on the individuals internally.
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 experiences exile on three occasions during Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. During each exile, his lifestyle contradicts the morals, ideas, and behaviors of the Savage Reservation and the World State.
To start off with, John travelled into a forbidden area and he started seeing much more then he was supposed to see and that is when he started losing fear. In the story it states, “The north and the west and the south are good hunting ground, but it is forbidden to go east. It is forbidden to go to any of the Dead Places except to search for metal […] These are the rules and the laws; they are well made. It is forbidden
If an allusion, reference, or symbol isn’t from one of the eloquent works of Shakespeare, it is most likely that the allusion, reference, or symbol is from the Bible. Like Shakespeare’s works, the Bible paints out human struggles, journeys, and emotions in powerful wording. John the Savage is known for his distaste of the conditioned world and its technology. “Still, Ariel could put a girdle round the earth in forty minutes,” (Huxley 158). Clearly uninterested by the technology, John the Savage explains the feats of a biblical character.
John, a savage, has never been able to fit in society. Moving through two contradicting societies, John is unable to adapt to the major differences of the civilized society due to the different ways upon how it is conducted. Living with the savages, John feels isolated from the savages as they exclude him from most of their norms. John wanted to
When Bernard brings back John the Savage from the Indian reservation to the big city he is a celebrity. He is constantly invited to parties and gets the opportunities to meet very important people within the city. Since he is now seen as a very important person in the city this makes him feel more welcome, but he also acts very differently compared to his previous timider self. This is shown most clearly when he gets frustrated with his only friend Helmholtz about his resent popularity. It is said
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.
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.
In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, John’s identities are influenced by two opposite societies, and even though he tries to prove his manhood and change the framework of brave new world, he can’t gain real acceptance from anywhere. John’s mother, Linda, is from the brave new world but gave birth to him in the savage reservation and her different behaviors based on the framework of the brave new world caused John’s isolation in the savage reservation. John decides to move to the brave new world and becomes popular in this society, but his identity, influenced by his “savage” culture, can’t be accepted by the community. His conflict with the brave new world finally forces him to try to change the framework of the society, but his attempt is
Isolation is an important factor in the story because it creates an inevitable prison of detachment and despair that John has no way of escaping. John does not feel at home with the rest of the few Englishmen living in Burma because of their bigotry, yet he does not fit in with the
I’d have gone round ten times-twelve, fifteen. Palowhtiwa only got as far as seven. They could have had twice as much blood from me” (Huxley 100). This shows John’s urge to be a part of the savage community and be like the other savages. Him being different, causes him to be sad since he is not free to do as he wishes.
Even though John grew up on the reservation, he was not accepted by the community there. His complexion, along with how his mother behaved made it increasingly difficult for him to be accepted into their culture. The boys would shout, “Not for you, white-hair! Not for the son of the she-dog (Pg.127). John wasn’t allowed to participate in rituals and was rejected by many that lived there. So, he decided to have his own rituals. He once went into the wilderness and began crying, but thought, “...it was not for pain that he sobbed, it was because he was all alone, because he had been driven out, alone into this skeleton world of rocks and moonlight” (Pg. 127). In addition, John’s mother would behave promiscuously as was a normal part of life in the Other Place, but not the Savage Reservation. He was then mocked and, sometimes, even violently hurt, because his mother’s actions were seen as very inappropriate and immoral (Pg. 121). John simply wanted to be a part of Indian life and culture, but felt as far from that as possible. He wasn’t only exiled from his community, but also from the Other Place. John was looked at as the “Savage” who acted much different than they. Later on, he became a spectacle for people to watch and laugh at (Pg. 227). His background was one that people there thought was shameful and something not to be spoken of. John had his fair share of alienation from both his own Indian community and people in