4) John the Savage is one of the only men in Brave New World to refrain from objectifying and taking advantage of women, yet he becomes a social pariah. How might this irony provide a social commentary on the interactions between men and women both in the novel and in the real world, as well as on the inclusion of new members into society?
Although men and women are supposedly "equals" in Brave New World, there are occasions on which male dominance is either exerted directly or implied. Even the first lines of the novel: "A squat grey building of only thirty-four stories" (Huxley 15) suggest male superiority over women, as the building is representative of a woman's body, worn from years of childbirth. By using the word "only," Huxley suggests that women are limited in that they can produce only a certain maximum number of children, just as the building he describes is short in comparison to the surrounding soaring phallic symbols that further reinforce the inferiority of women (Douglas-McMahon 22).
In addition, women's role in the reproductive process has been nearly eliminated entirely, as the men in roles of authority wield control over the fertilization process itself, able to literally forge women's bodies in bottles, subjugating them to male dominance to ensure continued reign and success (Douglas-McMahon 23). Men in real life have indeed historically dominated over women, since their traditional roles as "breadwinners" established them as the roles of authority in patriarchal social structures.
John the Savage's role in society is quite different from that of other males, however, and his incorporation into Brave New World's society and its subsequent attempted indoctrination of a vastly different system of beliefs parallels the virulence of the spread of Western culture into indigenous ones throughout the world and the pervasive trend of globalization currently taking place. John's entrance into the booming city of London is analogous to the permeation of new ideas into indigenous cultures, unchanged and free of influence for centuries. But now modern society readily offers its mechanical features to individuals of such cultures, apt to fashion them into conformists that lack individual expression - just as has been accomplished in the social system of Brave New World (Douglas-McMahon 39).
In addition, women's role in the reproductive process has been nearly eliminated entirely, as the men in roles of authority wield control over the fertilization process itself, able to literally forge women's bodies in bottles, subjugating them to male dominance to ensure continued reign and success (Douglas-McMahon 23). Men in real life have indeed historically dominated over women, since their traditional roles as "breadwinners" established them as the roles of authority in patriarchal social structures.
John the Savage's role in society is quite different from that of other males, however, and his incorporation into Brave New World's society and its subsequent attempted indoctrination of a vastly different system of beliefs parallels the virulence of the spread of Western culture into indigenous ones throughout the world and the pervasive trend of globalization currently taking place. John's entrance into the booming city of London is analogous to the permeation of new ideas into indigenous cultures, unchanged and free of influence for centuries. But now modern society readily offers its mechanical features to individuals of such cultures, apt to fashion them into conformists that lack individual expression - just as has been accomplished in the social system of Brave New World (Douglas-McMahon 39).