John - The Savage
Important Facts about John:
- not decanted, but viviparously born by Linda in the reservation
- learned the conditions and moral values of civilized life from the people of the Malpais
- saw violence, and violence was done to him
- outsider, because of his ‘reprehensible` mother
- learns to read and discovers Shakespeare’s words for himself as a guideline in life
- gets to the Brave New World through Bernhard and Lenina
- starts to be attached to Lenina
- meets his Dad, but being a father is not meant to be in the BNW
- John's Dad Thomas Tomakin, the Director of the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, flees in shame and goes to Iceland
- falls in love with Lenina -> sees in her Shakespeare's Juliet
- declares his love to her, but there is no romantic love in the BNW, so John is shocked that Lenina takes her clothes off right away
- John doesn`t want to be shown around by Bernhard
- John doesn`t want to take SOMA and hates the people of the World State for taking it
- deep friendship to Helmholtz
- Self-punishment for naughty thoughts
- does not kill Linda on purpose
- mourns for Linda
- is disappointed and left alone by Bernhard who just wants attention for his "import"
- isolates himself to escape from the World State into lighthouse
- his suicide is an accusation to the relentless world State
(Janneke)
his love for Shakespeare:
- only advanced book he ever read; learned lots of new words from Shakespeare (p.112,ll.20f)
- Shakespeare gives him words to express his feelings (that others can't express) -> only words he knows for: love, happiness, anger, sadness, solitude, etc. (p.164-168)
- feels like the book/Shakespeare "talks to him" (p.113,ll.11f)
- romantic lover -> does not get along with the way Lenina loves him (only sexual love) (p.164/165)
- sees himself as Romeo and Lenina as Juliet -> won't work out though!
- Shakespeare gives John access to the past -> describes all the relations, that the World State eliminated
(Steffi)
page revision: 2, last edited: 21 Jan 2010 16:19