Theme Of Isolation In Brave New World

Aldous Huxley demonstrates the theme of isolation through foreign and contrasting culture in Brave New World. John, “the Savage”, is abruptly thrown into a new society that has a government dictated by science and that is far different from his own home. Throughout his turbulent journey in the World State, John must maneuver his way through a culture that revolves around science and the perfection of human conditioning, and in process he loses everything he holds dear to him that has any semblance of home. Huxley is able to describe his character’s rough transition by contrasting John’s own beliefs and morals from those of the World States’. Though they have similar ideas on this “perfected” society and are considered to be outsiders by their peers, John the Savage is ultimately the opposite of Bernard Marx, an idealist who only thinks about being rebellious since he is not quite like his fellow Alphas and he is constantly reminded of such. John, on the other hand,
“‘The Savage was silent for a little. ‘All the same,’ he insisted obstinately, ‘Othello's good, Othello's better than those feelies.’ [...] the Controller agreed. "But that's the price we have to pay for stability. You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art.’ (Page 151).” John begins to unravel the truth of why literature is banned and Huxley reveals it is all about the happiness of society. The author starts to show that total happiness is a prison for the mind and emotions. The entire character of John was created by the author to be a symbol of rebellion against the society’s traditional drug use and conditioning, while Lenina was a symbol of fully giving into society’s practices. This helps add to the reasons for John’s status as a pariah; he is the only one, asides from some such as the World Controller, that isn’t constantly in a state of