Aldous Huxley, Brave New World The Good Savage – Rousseau

The Noble Savage is an idealized concept of the uncivilized man, who symbolizes the innate goodness of one not exposed to the corrupting influences of civilization. It is a romantic conception of a man enjoying a natural and noble existence until civilization makes him a slave and corrupts him. John the Savage is the son born of parents from the Brave New World, but raised in the Savage Reservation, John represents a challenge to the dystopia. He is the character closest to being the hero of the novel. John is labelled a savage in Brave New World because he rejects society’s values and prefers to live as people did in older times. Even though he rejects the society tells him is civilized John is closest in mindset and experience to what we consider civilized today. John is the only character in the novel burn naturally of a mother, as opposed being born in a laboratory from a test-tube procedure. John maintains a familial relationship with his mother, while the other characters never know their parents. John reads Shakespeare as a hobby, while the other characters use drugs and sex as their only sources of recreation. And finally, once in London, John abhors society and claims that freedom and individuality should never be sacrificed for the sake of stability.