I think that John is still morally a strong-ish character, but he strikes me as

almost annoying and borderline abusive when he strikes Lenina. He did not
seem to try to talk to her, maybe because of his limited vocabulary, maybe
because of his overwhelming interest in only displaying his thoughts through
Shakespeare, but his lack of understanding towards her own culture makes it
seem like the reader should be less accepting of him. John, in this passage,
desires a loving relationship (perhaps like ones he has read about), while
Lenina desires grati cation and pleasure from whomever she decides to be
with. I think that Lenina’s attempted command of poetry is a (somewhat
feeble) attempt to copy John’s method of speech to make him be drawn to
her. This unfortunately does not work, as John is not drawn to such a physical
relationship and desires an emotional connection.

I found multiple parts of this scene I guess somewhat disturbing, but not
necessarily shocking or surprising in anyway. I did recognize the intent to
show a disturbing nature though. The children being conditioned to accept
death as just a thing that happens was certainly there to be disturbing, albeit
expected in a society that is made to be so rotary. I also think that the part
where Linda sees John as Pòpe shows a disturbing part and a ect of age
and drugs, which is meant to inspire fear in the children.