Mustapha Mond and John the Savage in a Brave New World

Anthony Moore
Mrs. Zhang
English 4 A3
23 September, 2014
Comparative Essay: A Brave New World
In the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley uses many different characters to convey the contrasts of the different personalities and viewpoints in a seemingly homogeneous world state. Two characters who embody the contrast between knowledge and happiness are Mustapha Mond, and John the Savage. The interaction between John and Mustapha really emphasize the conflicting theme of whether it is better to ensure happiness for a price of knowledge and awareness. Although Mustapha Mond and John the Savage both seem to be the most enlightened when it comes to art or science, they have different viewpoints when it comes to freedom and insight.
Mustapha Mond and John the Savage both grow up in worlds very different from the world state, so they both have an idea of what life was before the world state. John grows up on the reservation with Shakespeare as his teacher, learning the ideas of love vs lust, fear, hardships, while reading works such as The Tempest, and Othello. Mustapha Mond grows up primarily with science, gaining an interest in Physics, while putting his own spin on the “cook book” of the physical world. Although these two backgrounds do not have much in common, they reveal the similarity between the two characters, being that they both grow up in worlds with natural human qualities, not seen in the world state.
These two characters are both outcasts of their society, not conforming to what they learned from others, but trusting in what they believe in. Although they both have a similar drive for what they do, they eventually take different routes after being seen as complete pariahs of their society. John continues to live his life by the teachings of Shakespearian sonnets and plays, and clings on to those teachings his whole life. Mustapha, however, *check use of however* goes a completely different route when he gets in trouble for doing unorthodox, experimental science. Instead of going to an island to do as much experimental physics as he could, he chooses to become the head controller of his own state, suppressing the ideas that he once held so deeply to himself. This change of plans between the two characters shows how differently they think about happiness gained through hard work and passion, vs artificial happiness easily gained by hiding the truth from others.
John and Mustapha prefer to garner their happiness from different outlets. John prefers to feel the real qualities of human life, including the “inconveniences”. He wants “comfort, god, poetry, real danger, freedom, goodness, and sin,” qualities meant to be experienced by humans. Mustapha would rather get rid of all of those “inconveniences”, including religion, philosophy, and emotions other than contentment. This explains the difference between blissful ignorance and enlightenment. Although these feelings can feel similar at some point, they are achieved through entirely different means.
The way John and Mustapha hold themselves conveys their different outlook on things. John is seen as radical and overly dramatic, which is very much conveyed in Shakespeare’s works. This does not necessarily express his wild, behavior, but his strong passion for what he believes in, a quality that is never seen in the world state. Mustapha holds himself really well, staying calm in any situation. Although this seems like a good quality, this is really a case of his emotions being suppressed, a quality very widely seen in the world state. This contrast between the behaviors of the two characters illustrates the divergence between the social quality of passion, and overly-contentment caused by a lack of drive.
Although John the Savage and Mustapha Mond have many similarities in their knowledge of what is outside of the World State, they express their knowledge in entirely different ways. John the Savage embraces what he learned from the works of Shakespeare and expresses his humanly qualities in the most open way possible, while Mustapha Mond subdues his knowledge from the rest of the World State and keeps it hidden. The acceptance of rejection of false hope and happiness is depicted in their actions and behaviors. While Mustapha accepts easily-gained happiness as perfection, John refuses to accept Mustapha’s form of happiness without true freedom and knowledge.