Evaluate the Symbolic Significance of John the Savage in the Novel “Brave New World.”

Answer

Evaluate the symbolic significance of John, the savage, in the novel “Brave New World.”

John represents the most influential and most complex character of “Brave New World” (1932). He is the son of the director of hatcheries and the conditioning centre of London. Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) reveals that John is the only person in the brave new world who was born naturally of a mother. He was born on the Savage Reservation and raised under the proper care of his mother, Linda. When Bernard Marx takes him to London, the plot of the novel starts to be interesting.

John’s Role in the Arrangement of the Plot: John makes the plot developed and attractive. Without him, we can’t think of the novel. Bernard Marx takes him to London with his mother, Linda. Then, the background story of the novel is exposed. Tomakin is the real father of John, the Savage. After the revelation of the news, everyone starts to think that the Director is a bad, cruel, and unkind man. He resigns from his duty, and the plot becomes more attractive.

The mission of John: The adult John comes to civilized society as an experiment by Marx and Mustapha Mond to see how a “savage” would adjust to civilization. Frankly, he does not adjust very well. He is appalled by the lifestyle and ideas of civilized people and gets himself into a lot of trouble by criticizing civilization. He loves Lenina very much but gets very upset at her when she wants to have sex with him. She relates,

Hug me till you drug me, Honey.

He physically attacks her and, from that point on, does not want to have anything to do with her. When his mother dies, he interferes with the “death conditioning” of children by being sad. Finally, his frustrations with the civilized world become too much for him, and he decides to take action. He tries to be a sort of Messiah to a group of Deltas. He tries to free them from the effect of soma. John watches a long line of the Delta workers of the Park Lane Hospital. He says,

I’ll teach you; 

I’ll make you be free whether  you want to or not.

John sees the Delta workers in a long line. They are waiting to take Soma. It frustrates him. Again, his mother’s death due to the overdoses of Soma disappointed him deeply. 

John, as a Rebel: He tells everyone the truth about Soma. It is not the truth that the Deltas have been conditioned to believe, so to them, it is a violent lie, and they begin to cause a riot. When the riot is stopped, John is arrested and taken to have a talk with Mustapha Mond. John the savage says, 

But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.

John is a Cross-Bred: John is a crossbred.  He absorbs both his mother’s culture and Indians. He learns from his mother’s little knowledge, which she has gained from World State. He gains the culture of savage reservation from his childhood. But he also learns about the cultural value of London hatchery and conditioning. 

John Exposes the Faults of the World State: John realizes the mortal effect of Soma. So, he takes the role of a defender. He engages himself in a mission to rescue people.  He starts to obstruct Soma distribution. Now he has become very popular throughout London and gets everybody’s attention. John throws the boxes of poisonous Soma outside. But the Delta workers can’t understand his great purpose because they are totally under the control of  Soma. Again, John criticizes the class distinction.

John, as a Prophet of Humanity: John represents the most important and most complex character of Brave New World. He becomes a rebel against all injustice. Bernard’s dissatisfaction with his society expresses his heroism, but John lives out his ideals. In turning aside Lenina’s advances, John rejects society’s values. He boldly calls the Deltas to rebellion and throws out the soma. Finally, he faces the powerful Mustapha Mond intelligently and sets out to create a life for himself, which ends in tragedy.  He repeated.

 O brave new world that has such people in it. Let’s start at once.

John’s deed makes him a hero. Huxley ends the novel Brave New World with his death. His death is the result of his own imperfect understanding as well as the inhuman forces of the world state.