John As A Christ Figure In Brave New World

One of the main protagonists within Brave New World--John--expresses beliefs connecting to the essence of Christ. Therefore, the embodiment of Christ displays John's desire to save the world that criticizes his ideals. John represents this Christ figure through the decisions he enacts. A Christ figure, according to Foster, consists of features such as: self-sacrificial actions, crucifixion, and the redemption of a world that is not worthy. These features embody the persona of John, allowing the reader to connect his actions to the manifestation of Christ. Lashing at himself with a “whip of knotted cords”(Huxley 255), John emanates an aura of self-sacrifice. Furthermore, Christ was sacrificed for the greater good of man. Similarly, John’s

While John resumes his position, he begins to experience “excruciating agony” (Huxley 251). In Foster’s novel, he describes how notions of a Christ figure include “agony”(Foster 119), offering a correlation between John’s crucifixion as well as Christs. As Foster explains, the author may be trying to get the reader to view the character with, “redemption, or hope, or miracle”(Foster 124). Incidentally, John’s characterization contains those three interpretations of a Christ figure as seen when he has an incredible desire to save the people of the Hospital of the Dying from soma. John emphasizes how soma is “poison to soul as well as body” (Huxley 217), therefore he attempts to try and save this rotten world from soma, which acts as the antagonist against John. In this case John wishes to “bring [them] freedom”(Huxley 217), unveiling the purpose for his actions. Foster accentuates how a Christ figure works in order to “redeem an unworthy world” (Foster 120).This same goal is desired by John, which is prominent when he opposes soma. Since soma dominates the world, it allows the population to submit to the unworthy beliefs of society. When John is seen opposing soma, it accentuates John’s purpose--to save the corrupt world from