Rhetorical Language In Brave New World

In this quotation, taken from Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, the author describes how the character, John, commits suicide. As reporters come into his home, a lighthouse, to question him about the orgy that took place, they find his body hanging from a noose attached to an arch. This quotation creates a mood of uneasiness for the reader and reveals John’s wandering tendencies. The passage creates a mood of uneasiness by means of the author’s imagery, diction and use of rhetorical language. The author writes that lighthouse door “was ajar”, which creates an uneasy feeling for the reader. John is an isolated man who prefers the peace and quiet of solitude, yet the author creates an image of an open and welcoming home. John’s unlocked door leaves him exposed, and it allows anyone to come in and badger him. This uncharacterized action done by John leaves the reader feeling anxious to what is happening to John for him to be so open with the society he tried so hard to escape. The imagery juxtaposes John’s character as a recluse, and leaves the reader feeling apprehensive about John’s state. Moreover, as the reporters enter John’s home, they “[walk] into a shuttered twilight”. The connotations of twilight, or the time of day just before the sun fully sets, is an impending gloom or darkness. This creates discomfort as the diction hints to a metaphorical impending dimness to John, or more specifically, the end of his life. Furthermore, the word twilight can

Huxley uses a variety of literary techniques to prove these arguments. Yet, the question one must ask at the novel’s finale is that whether or not John’s ending could have been different. Did their brave new world, that has such people in it, kill John, first mentally then physically? Or was it inevitable? That is truly what one should ponder: the barbaric end, to a most civilized