John the savage and Mustapha Mond the world controller both have their separate
ideas of what happiness is. Mustapha defends the new society, pointing out the
advantages that the savage world does not have, and what he perceives as the
people being happy. "But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I
want real danger, I want freedom, and I want goodness. I want sin."
"In fact," said Mustapha Mond, "you're claiming the right to be
unhappy." "All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm
claiming the right to be unhappy." "Not to mention the right to grow
old and ugly and impotent. The right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to
have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant
apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right
to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind." There was a long
silence. "I claim them all," said the Savage at last. (1) John
doesn’t see death or life to be something that should not be enjoyed. He takes
life everyday as it comes, where in the utopia it is all pre-decided for you and
there are no worries. He wants the inconveniences that come with everyday life
outside utopia, the freedom of being able to read Shakespeare, and other
literary works that have not been locked up and hidden from the view of
everyone. In john’s eyes, the problem with the people in the brave new world
is that they lack the freedom of making their own choices that would in turn
make them happy. Mustapha sees the Savage as an amusing diversion, a masochist
who really does not understand the situation. The World Controller lives by the
credo 'Community, Identity, Stability.' All the things claimed by John are
unnecessary diversions, or even harmful to individuals. What use are emotions,
things that just breed unhappiness? Mustapha sees John as a stubborn individual
who demands things he doesn't need, just because he doesn't have them. Despite
John's arguments for the richness of life, it is true that laughter can exist
without tears, and that pleasure can exist without pain. Mustapha Mond misses
the point of the Savage's argument. It seems to me that one of the defining
aspects of humanity are that we do not want to waste our lives. This gives us a
motive for all of our actions, whether it be going to school, experiencing
intense emotions or founding a family. For the same reasons, personal identity
is a highly prized commodity. How can we make our lives useful and worthwhile if
we lead our lives in exactly the same way as countless others, like the citizens
of the Brave New World? By denying the inhabitants of the New World their
choices, Mustapha also denies them their freedom. The result is a world of
automatons, like a collective of ants on a hill. Mustapha and the other world
controllers have sacrificed the very essence of humanity in the name of
stability. Though John and Mond are both what they perceive as happy, we are
left with wondering if they can truly say that they are happy. Mond gave up his
happiness to give the New World happiness. Mond choose the happiness of the
society as a whole instead of his own personal happiness. John was ripped out of
his society and dropped into a world that was nothing like his own. People all
alike, no one was at all different. Restricted from the time they where
“created” to fit in the mold of society. How you looked, acted, thought,
what job they would hold. Everything pre-determined. Nothing left to the
imagination. John had his idea of what happiness was. Though he died trying to
achieve it. He had a perception of what in life he wanted. He wanted to
experience the pain and hunger that you only can when you are truly happy. Mond
gave up his chance to benefit others. If given the choice I think I would rather
live in the savage society where I would have the chance to experience
everything that was available. Not having life pre-determined.