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)

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