How Is John Dehumanized

In his novel “Brave New World”, Aldous Huxley creates a futuristic world in which babies are grown in factories and citizens are conditioned to always be ‘happy’ and to suppress all other feelings. An exception would be John “The Savage”, a young Englishman born and raised on a Native American Reservation. When John is taken back to London, part of the ‘civilized world’, he is not only physically cut off from his home at the Reservation, but also feels cut off from the people of the civilized society that he doesn’t fit into. As a result of his separation, John feels alienated and dehumanized, but also comes to a greater appreciation of his emotions and beliefs. John’s isolation causes him to feel alienated because he feels dehumanized, but

John is isolated from society because he does not want to be emotionless. His uniqueness from the people around him allows him to notice in them how unrewarding false happiness actually is. John states, in reference to a Shakespeare play, “haven't [the gods] used [Edmund’s] pleasant vices as an instrument to degrade him?” (Huxley 236). John’s point is that false happiness and emotionlessness are degrading and dehumanizing. John's detachment also results in him discovering where real joy actually comes from. John’s initial exclusion by the Native Americans on the Reservation was what caused him to discover Shakespeare. In London, John realizes that Shakespeare is so much more beautiful and enjoyable than the feelies because it contains real emotions: pain and passion as well as a deeper meaning. Another example would be when John hides out in the wilderness in an abandoned lighthouse. John gained “pure delight” from making a bow himself because he was “doing something that demanded skill and patience” (Huxley 247). John found enjoyment from having a purpose instead of from the pointless pleasures of the civilized