Although Bernard Marx is the primary character in Brave
New World up until his visit with Lenina to the Reservation,
after that point he fades into the background and John becomes the
central protagonist. John first enters the story as he expresses
an interest in participating in the Indian religious ritual from
which Bernard and Lenina recoil. John’s desire first marks him as
an outsider among the Indians, since he is not allowed to participate
in their ritual. It also demonstrates the huge cultural divide between
him and World State society, since Bernard and Lenina see the tribal
ritual as disgusting. John becomes the central character of the
novel because, rejected both by the “savage” Indian culture and
the “civilized” World State culture, he is the ultimate outsider.
As an outsider, John takes his values from a more than 900-year-old
author, William Shakespeare. John’s extensive knowledge of Shakespeare’s
works serves him in several important ways: it enables him to verbalize
his own complex emotions and reactions, it provides him with a framework
from which to criticize World State values, and it provides him
with language that allows him to hold his own against the formidable
rhetorical skill of Mustapha Mond during their confrontation. (On
the other hand, John’s insistence on viewing the world through Shakespearean
eyes sometimes blinds him to the reality of other characters, notably
Lenina, who, in his mind, is alternately a heroine and a “strumpet,”
neither of which label is quite appropriate to her.) Shakespeare
embodies all of the human and humanitarian values that have been
abandoned in the World State. John’s rejection of the shallow happiness
of the World State, his inability to reconcile his love and lust
for Lenina, and even his eventual suicide all reflect themes from
Shakespeare. He is himself a Shakespearean character in a world
where any poetry that does not sell a product is prohibited.
John’s naïve optimism about the World State, expressed
in the words from The Tempest that constitute the
novel’s title, is crushed when he comes into direct contact with
the State. The phrase “brave new world” takes on an increasingly
bitter, ironic, and pessimistic tone as he becomes more knowledgeable
about the State. John’s participation in the final orgy and his
suicide at the end of the novel can be seen as the result of an
insanity created by the fundamental conflict between his values
and the reality of the world around him.
