-What is the significance of bringing Shakespeare into the plot?
-Why is it that the One State is fascinated with John when they are so repulsed by anything else that is different?
-What impact does letting the higher people see the Indian Reservation have on the One State? Is it good or bad and could it be potentially dangerous?
It is said that when Popé brings the works of Shakespeare to Linda's house, John reads it until he has it memorized. This is significant because within the works of Shakespeare, the plays were able to give voice to all of John's repressed emotions. With John's cultural gaps, being part of the World State culture from his mother, yet also part of the Reservation by living there, it almost appears as if he is internally conflicted. This cultural gap also causes him to be isolated. In these hard times, he turns to Shakespeare to absorb almost a third cultural value system. Shakespeare to John is like his outlet. Whenever he is frustrated, he reads through the "magic" words. "The strange words rolled through his mind; rumbled, like the drums at the summer dances, if the drums could have spoken; like the men singing the Corn Song, beautiful, beautiful, so that you cried...but better than Mitsima's magic, because it meant more, because it talked to him..." (Huxley 140). He loves reading the Shakespeare and it was his way to feel free from his isolation.
The people are fascinated with the idea of a “savage” from a different place. Bernard tries to show him off, in a way, and writes about him when publicized. The people learn about how John reads Shakespeare, likes spending time alone, etc. They are always excited to hear about him and are extremely disappointed when he did not show up to the party. “The men were furious at having been tricked into behaving politely to this insignificant fellow with the unsavoury reputation and the heretical opinions. The higher their position in the hierarchy, the deeper their resentment” (Huxley 179). This shows how disappointed the people are that they do not get to see the Savage, but also proves that it is good to remain true to their own ways and that life in the World State is perfect, unlike the Savage who is not dependable. It is a let down to the higher people because they were trying to show off the ways of the Savage, but failed.
Allowing the higher-class people to see the Indian Reservation creates a comparison between their utopian world and the un-colonized, filthy reservation. When seeing how disorganized everything is and all of the responsibilities the people at the Reservation have, they are more likely to be content with their lifestyle and be pleased to live a simple life. Huxley explains this comparison when he uses two quotes. “Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading, thinking—thinking!” (68). This represents the Reservation and how they have more responsibilities and have to do more work whereas the utopia is perfect. “…the old men work, the old men copulate, the old men have no time, no leisure form pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think—or if ever by some unlucky chance such a crevice of time should yawn in the solid substance of their distractions, there is always soma” (Huxley 68). The comparison between the two allows the readers to see that the people would prefer not having to think as compared to a society where freedom of thinking and making decisions exists.
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