The book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley portrays a future where people are genetically modified so that they cannot face any normal feelings, such as pain, suffering or even death. At the beginning of the story, there is a lab in London where humans are grown in bottles and brainwashed into thinking in a particular way. Some of the characters are happy about the situation. A character in the book by the name of Mustapha explains that the world got messy by people doing activities out of the free will. They then came together and decided that they wanted their liberty and individuality so that they can have universal stability. Now people are controlled on how to behave, and they view that as a perfect world. Nonetheless, few characters are different in that they do not believe in the technological world like the rest of the society members. John is the main character, who is different from everyone else. He is naturally born. He has his line of belief. He is commonly known as “the savage” a term that sticks. In comparison to different essential thinkers, we can understand the challenges that those, who want to be distinct, encounter.
John the Savage is different from all other people in his community. He was born naturally to a mother, who is considered an outsider. His mother is called Linda, a woman known for sleeping with almost every other man. The rest of the people in the society are made from a laboratory. Even though John was born in the savage world, he is considered as an outsider. Friedrich Nietzsche tries to explain the situation toJohn, when he stated that humans are unknown to themselves and that they have never looked for themselves. Men from the novel are among those, who condemn John for being born of a mother, whose behavior is “unacceptable.” It is the same men, who are sleeping with his mother, such as Bernard. The society forgets that Johns father is the same person running the Laboratory of their origin. John is like them, but they choose not to see it. The society needs to look at their background and view that of John. They are both made from one man that is The Director. We understand that the community prefers to be blind and see what they want while leaving out the reality. If we can examine all situations from the correct perspective, we would realize that our conditions are the same and that we have no right to condemn others. A person from a laboratory and that from a prostitute have no reason to see the evil of the other before viewing their first.
When John first appears in the novel, he wants to participate in an Indian religious ritual. He sees it as exciting and wants to feel the experience. Bernard and Lenina recoil after John shows his interest to join. The Indians do not allow him to participate because he is not of their culture and therefore an outsider. Jean-Paul Sartre explains that who we are is a matter of choice though at times we hide behind lousy faith rather than living a genuine life. John was sincere in that he wanted to participate in what he saw would bring him happiness. It is possible that Bernard would have loved to join, but felt shy due to what he is programmed to view the world. He and Lenina see the Indian culture as disgusting, yet John was the one making his choice. John, a free man, was sincere with himself and what he wanted that why he showed interest. Many times, in the current world, people hide behind the standards set by the community at large. They forget that the personal decisions we make define us. If a person wants happiness, all they have to do is choose to live a happy life. We need to be sincere to make our own decisions. When we are controlled by the fear of the set standards, we are not straightforward with our choices.
John takes his values from a different script from the rest of the society. His mother was a product of the laboratory just like other members of the World State, but he is not welcomed. He, therefore, seeks his values from the works of William Shakespeare. It provides him with the ability to talk about his own emotions and thoughts. An example is during the confrontation with Mustapha Mond. John through the knowledge and skills picked from reading Shakespeare’s work can hold his argument against the formidable linguistic skills of Mustapha. Not many people had done the same. Judge Wilhelm explains that, when people feel superior, they are led to an identity of meaning and purpose. John’s life had found a sense, and it motivated him to leave a meaningful life. We drive our definition by being different from the rest of the society. The purpose of life is not for those who follow corrupt rules of the community. The World State had its citizens programmed to a foreseen way of thinking. They are not free, and therefore they are not superior in their thinking and cannot feel any. John is liberated and that why he was inspired to a level of arguing with Mustapha and arguing his points well.
John in his quest for living a dignified and free life leads to his disaster. His thinking and acting cannot be compiled to any other character. He behaves like the characters from the Shakespeare novel, which his mother gave him. Romeo and Juliet committed suicide from the play by William Shakespeare (Shakespeare, n.d.). John ends up committing suicide. It is possible that the ideas from the Shakespeare work influenced him to think into the life of taking his own life. Jean-Paul Sartre suggested that Mankind is always searching for meaning and commitment. John had found meaning in Shakespeare’s work and committed to even the most negative aspects of the play. We learn that in the quest to find a purpose in life, we need to set boundaries on what is too much. John died because he exceeded the limits of finding meaning. That what had given him a purpose ended to be a tragedy for him.
Overall, it is worth it to sacrifice your life to live a meaningful future. A world where people feel and think the same will result in losing the meaning of life. Freedom is an essential aspect of human existence. The ability to make your own choice and suffer from them makes life worth living. When people experience different emotions, they learn how to find purpose in living. The World State from the novel created a boring life. People became slaves to one individual, who controls them. John saw his mission, and it helped him express himself despite being viewed as an outcast, who thought their lives were perfect. But still, it is essential to understand, when to stop in our quest for a meaningful life. It is possible to lose ourselves when the boundaries are unclear. We can end up lonely in a world where everybody else thinks the same, but we decide to reason differently.
- Huxley, A. (1894-1963). Brave New World. Huxley.net. Retrieved 11 November 2017, from https://www.huxley.net/bnw/one.html
- Shakespeare, W. (n.d.). Romeo And Juliet. Learningstorm.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017, from http://learningstorm.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/RMEOJLET-1.pdf