Lecture Topic John and allusion: The Bible

John the Baptist

The most striking biblical reference comes in Johns name. John the Savage comes from the Christian John the Baptist. Now, Im no authority on Bible stories, but I believe the story of the John the Baptist goes something like: John was born to a priest named Zachariah and a woman named Elizabeth. Elizabeth was Marys (read Jesus mother) cousin. The birth was considered a miracle because Elizabeth was beyond child bearing age (already we can see links to John the Savage in terms of the uniqueness of his birth). John the Baptist spent his early years in the desert, leading a deeply monastic (monk-like) existence. He would later appear in Jordan where he would become famous as the one who baptised Jesus. His death is based around his unwillingness to accept an incestuous marriage, defying the powers that existed around him. He was initially just locked up, but the tale goes that kings daughter in law, Salome, convinced the king to have John beheaded - and thus a woman is often cited as being the cause of Johns death (again, the connection is clear if we look at Lenina is the catalyst for Johns death). The connection is perhaps most relevant and meaningful if we look at the way this connection draws our attention to the way in which these individuals were destroyed because they refused to accept the values their society wanted to force on them. Both Johns outwardly condemned the actions and behaviour of the leaders of their society and both payed with their lives. In the end, this connection seems to suggest that there is no place for the rebel in a totalitarian system. And while we get this through John the Savages story anyway, by connecting him to this ancient story, it allows the idea to be more universal.

Specific allusions
John is deeply religious. Part of this spirituality is connected to his roots in Malpais and Zuni culture, but there is also a lot of Christian imagery surrounding him. It is particularly connected to his attitude towards monogamy, sex and suffering. First, lets look at specific connections to Jesus:

Once, he went on, I did something that none of the others did: I stood against a rock in the middle of the day, in
summer, with my arms out, like Jesus on the Cross...Why? Well ... He hesitated. Because I felt I ought to. If Jesus could stand it. And then, if one has done something wrong ... Besides, I was unhappy; that was another reason. This first ones nice and clear. John is reenacting the crucifixion. He wants to suffer in the same way as Jesus did because he feels as though this is a way for him to get closer to the spiritual side of him. John also sees is as a way of dealing with his unhappiness. I think, for John, suffering is attached to a cleansing. Through suffering he works to rid himself of his sins and reach a sort of redemption that will bring him peace. At the edge of the heath stood a clump of hoary juniper bushes. He flung him- self against them, he embraced, not the smooth body of his desires, but an armful of green spikes. Sharp, with a thousand points, they pricked him. So here have a connection to the crown of thorns that Jesus had to suffer wearing. While the connection may seemed strained, Huxelys choice of image is fairly telling - we have thorns being used as a means of punishment in order to for John to atone for his sinful thoughts about Leninas body when he should be thinking about his mother. Again, Johns is looking after his soul and is attempting to purify himself.

Specific allusions
Then why on earth didnt you say so? she cried, and so intense was her exasperation that she drove
her sharp nails into the skin of his wrist. Nails driven into the wrist is a distinctly biblical image; again attached to the crucifixion. Jesus suffered at the hands of his persecutors and here John is suffering in the same way. What seems to be the dominant image here is that John suffers in a very Christ-like way throughout his experiences in the World State. What we might see this as is a representation of how the totalitarian state imposes itself upon and punishes dissent or rebellion. Just like Jesus was punished for his views, so is John. While John isnt disciplined explicitly by and representative of the World State, he still suffers as a result of its impact on his existence. So, the use biblical allusion help draw our attention to the suffering the John experiences. It highlights that he is an innocent being punished by the unreasonable state. It also helps us empathise with John. By making him a Christ figure, it is very difficult to dislike him. He suffers without really doing anything wrong and so Huxley heightens this with his biblical imagery. This quite cleverly positions us on Johns side and helps increase our distaste for the World State.

Suffering, the soul and redemption

While this isnt immediately connected to the use of biblical allusion, it carries on from the discussion of Johns spirituality. John is deeply concerned for his soul. He is probably the only one that is in the entire text. It is one of the things that distinguishes him from the citizens of the World State. He is interested in a much bigger picture. They are only interested in their mortal existence - once they die, thats it and so they feel completely happy to indulge in their every desire. John however, sees such indulgence as vice or sin and as a having a negative impact on his soul. Look at this passage: If you allowed yourselves to think of God, you wouldnt allow yourselves to be degraded by pleasant vices. Youd have a reason for bearing things patiently, for doing things with courage. He talks about people being degraded by these vices, these pleasures that they indulge in. Its almost as if he believes they lose some of their humanity as a consequence. I almost feel as though John is talking about conscience, or a loss of conscience. There is no moral code in the World State, or at least as we might see it. There is nothing stopping people from constantly indulging in their desires and as a consequence there seems to be no virtues in this world, no higher principles to align oneself with. What Im getting at, is that this world leads to the destruction of purpose. I think we can argue that Huxley is getting at this idea that if were to be able to always have the instant gratification of our desires, all our actions would become meaningless because nothing would be more difficult or significant than anything else. I think this is perhaps a major condemnation of the World State model as is essentially makes life meaningless by stripping the existence of significance.