ipl-logo

Idealism In Brave New World

730 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Auldous Huxley the brave new world essay

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley depicts a dystopian future in which the people are controlled and conditioned to accept their predestined positions and lives. Among the novel's protagonists, one of the most idealistic is John the Savage, who romanticized the world due to his exposure to Shakespearean literature. Throughout the work, John's idealism has both great and harmful effects, and Huxley utilizes John's character to show the perils of blindly following idealistic views. John's idealism stems from his admiration for Shakespeare and his faith in the ability of writing to elevate the human soul. The childhood advancement of John on the Savage Reservation strongly shapes his idealistic beliefs of the World State, which consequently impacts …show more content…

Bernard Marx is first drawn to John as a means of boosting his status within the World State's structure, seeing an opportunity to set himself apart from all his peers. However, as John's power develops, Bernard's objectives become clearer, and the two become increasingly at conflict. When confronted with his shallow interest in John, Bernard concedes, "It's true. I'm envious of you… I'm glad you're an outsider too. We're so conditioned to believe that no one can be happy unless he's… well, ordinary" (Huxley, Chapter 8). The conversation illustrates Bernard's underlying intentions and his personal discontent with the World State's society's constraints. Similarly, Lenina Crowne is first intrigued by John's physical looks, seeing him as an appealing and exotic "savage." She is captivated by his passion and intensity as she spends more time with him, admiring his emotional depth and capacity for love. When John confronts Lenina about her limited understanding of love, she is compelled to confront her own indoctrination and principles. She realizes, when she contemplates her relationship with John, that "she wished she had her soma" (Huxley, Chapter 13). This scene demonstrates Lenina's conditioning's limitations as well as the challenge of balancing her wants with the constraints of World State

Show More
Related
557 Words | 3 Pages

The hidden one chapter As soon as you read this chapter you will understand the truth about the things that seems to have an explanation but it does not. Lenina always was concerned about why john never wanted to have sex with her, when john was in the savage reservation, he always was furious due the situation that he was living, his mother was a whore and he could not do anything about it..

Read More
467 Words | 2 Pages

His understanding bothers him; however, he believes it sets him on a pedestal. Bernard looks down upon others while he still conforms to society making him an outsider to his world.

Read More
615 Words | 3 Pages

Another way Bernard conforms to the World State yet questions himself is through sex and happiness. Bernard enjoys spending time alone, which the World State doesn’t really allow since being alone allows them to be in their own thoughts. But, that’s Bernard’s happy place, he doesn’t need soma to take whenever he isn’t feeling well. He tries to best he can to not having meaningless sex and to take doses of soma. But, the pressure of Lenina leads him into conforming to the normalities and taking part in these rituals.

Read More
1508 Words | 7 Pages

Lenina progressively feels worse. ‘“Lenina was still sobbing…”Too awful!... She shuddered. Oh I wish I had my soma.”’ (Huxley 116).

Read More
1145 Words | 5 Pages

Charles LP. Silet affirms this by stating, “On the return to his own world, the savage in tow, Bernard continues to think antisocial thoughts, ideas which drive Lenina to break with him and to take increasing doses of intellectually and emotionally deadening drugs” (Silet 495). She fails to see past the physical aspects of men and is confused on how to understand a relationship with emotions. Huxley points out, “Unable to escape her conditioning, she fears his attraction to her” (Huxley 55). Lenina is scared of Johns perspective of her and his view is above measures she cannot comprehend.

Read More
1042 Words | 5 Pages

On Lenina and Bernard Marx first date, Lenina doesn’t understand why Bernard doesn’t take soma.

Read More
381 Words | 2 Pages

In Chapter Six, Bernard represents the point of view that individuals do not need to use soma and be conditioned in order to be themselves or happy. He feels that he doesn't need to be apart of the social body to be content. When talking to Lenina while looking at the ocean, Bernard says, “It makes me feel as though...as though I were more me... Not just a cell in the social body” (Huxley, 90). From this quote one can infer that Bernard does not like the idea of being forced to become somebody that he is not, just to satisfy society's needs.

Read More
714 Words | 3 Pages

Towards the end of the novel Huxley, “virtually humiliate[d] her… becomes nothing more than a mouthpiece to play the most conventional platitudes off against Bernard’s adolescent attempts to shock her… Lenina becomes but one more Huxleyian sexual predator. (Higdon)” because Huxley realized the potential of the character of

Read More
1021 Words | 5 Pages

In Aldous Huxley’s novel “Brave New World” the world has fallen into an authoritarian order, of which control is kept through constant distraction and suppression of information. Though through this remains communities of “savages” who reject the new world order and have continued more traditional human life in reservations. It is in one of the these reservations the Aldous Huxley introduces the character John, a foil to the society he is introduced to. This exile from the land and the ideologies of the home John once knew to the “brave new world” allows John to both learn about himself and gives him the ability to see the corruption within the world state. John is introduced in the novel as the protagonist, Bernard Marx, and his female companion,

Read More
1797 Words | 8 Pages

Jasmine Van Camp Mrs. Disabella H. English 4 25 January 2023 Character Analysis In Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, a futuristic civilization is portrayed. A futuristic world where everyone is happy, and problems are nonexistent; however, just beyond this utopia is a village filled with people who never got to experience the luxuries of this life. Among this village, is a savage named John. John starts off as an outsider in a village of outsiders.

Read More
1099 Words | 5 Pages

Why does John push Lenina away even though he loves her? This essay will compare Lenina and John the Savage and discuss the reasons why their relationship is a failure. Lenina is described as “pneumatic” which means “filled with air”. This expression is a metaphor for being curvy and attractive. In the new world people are encouraged to have sex, including Lenina.

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

They may say that in the technically and scientifically advanced society everyone conforms and follows the rules by taking drugs, having sex, using transportation, and ‘liking’ there work, however, those people aren't doing these things because they would normally want to; those people were conditioned to think and participate in that way. The citizens didn't grow up with the ability to form their own opinions, beliefs, and thoughts; the government controlled those parts of them from the day they started growing, before they were even born. John is an example of the imperfections in the government's system concerning science because if the World State wants a Utopia then they need to use all of their scientific advancements on everyone. John is what they call a ‘savage’ because his beliefs are what people in our world would see as normal, however, in Huxley's world these normal attributes are taboo. John hates the World State and eventually killed himself because of the pressures and torments of the government and the citizens of it.

Read More
624 Words | 3 Pages

Bernards alienation because of his physique and his enrichment from his different moral views illuminates the meaning of the novel overall which is the definition of freedom. The utopia in the novel puts a lot of emphasis on conformity and discourages individuality, which is something Bernard doesn’t follow the rules of. As seen in a conversation in chapter 6 with Bernard and Lenina, Lenina insists that the society has a great deal of freedom represented by soma and its hypnotic state. The author uses this technique to show the reader that the true definition of freedom is not conformity and obedience, instead, it’s the independence to be an individual apart from the rest of

Read More
660 Words | 3 Pages

Aldous Huxley develops the character of John in Brave New World through exile from the World State in order to elucidate the theme of not being able to escape the corruption that is society. After all the hardships John has been through, such as growing up on the Reservation with his mother, whose death also drove him to desperate actions such as starting a riot among some Deltas at the hospital, John was not able to properly cope with his “new life” in the World State. HIs positive view of what the “Other World” would be like was crushed when he realized how horrible and corrupt the people were there, all conditioned in uniformity to create stability. His disgust was only furthered by his exposure to the World State’s use of soma and sexual pleasure to keep people happily occupied. Everything that the people were conditioned and taught to do went against John’s beliefs, so he was understandably upset about it.

Read More
919 Words | 4 Pages

His obsession with figures and punctually can stem from the void that is left from the fabricated happiness, he has been conditioned to love what he does, but so as to not question their methods he focuses on his numbers. His four month monogamous relationship with Lenina at the beginning of the novel shows that while he conforms to many of the rules there are some he is willing to bend for her enjoyable company. His thoughts on humanity, though faint, do give hope that he does understand that the methods of the World State are questionable and can be seen as inhumane. Despite these small unconformities he doesn 't dwell on them too much knowing that nothing good can come from them, as they are not made to question the ways of the World

Read More

More about Idealism In Brave New World

Open Document