Blog: What Does it Mean to be a Savage?

One of the themes in Brave New World is what it truly means to be a savage. The hero of Brave New World is a character named John, who grew up on an Indian reservation in New Mexico. His mother, Linda, came from London, where the people are “civilized.” However, her idea of civilization is filled with soma (a drug that appears to act as a sort of opiate), free sex, overconsumption, and every vice imaginable, obeyed immediately. Meanwhile, the “savages” of the reservation where John grew up look down upon those things and the people who engage in them. John thinks that mindset is better and more moral, thus when he’s brought to London, he’s so disturbed by what he sees that in the end, he kills himself. He recognizes that he was never the savage; the people of “civilization” were. 

According to Mirriam-Webster, “savage” means to be untamed, or “lacking the restraints normal to civilized human beings.” By this definition, a savage would be animalistic in their desires. If they want to sleep with someone, they do it. If they want to pig out on food or buy ridiculous amounts of something, there’s no moral guide stopping them. Any desire that they have must be fulfilled as soon as possible.  

In Huxley’s Brave New World, we see the “civilized” people acting like this. There are no moral restraints on anyone in this world. The only unspoken rule is not to do anything that would place morality on the shoulders of the people. This is why the government of this world does whatever it can to destroy the old way of life and keep people from ever interacting with it. The more animalistic people are, the easier they are to control.  

Meanwhile, in New Mexico, the “savages” are mostly Indians who haven’t conformed to the new way of life. They work to keep the old traditions alive. Thus, the government agrees to let them live, as long as they stay on the reservation. 

Ironically, though the Indians are called “savages” and painted as such in the brave, new world, their actions speak otherwise. Overall, their civilization practices restraint because they have morals. Yes, some of their practices are barbaric, such as flogging themselves as a sign of bravery. However, they try not to drink copious amounts, they have monogamous relationships, raise children, and don’t accept hedonism as a good thing. In fact, Linda is thoroughly hated by the wives in the reservation because she’s a drunken prostitute who steals their men. Except for the guys that have slept with her, everyone dislikes her for her immoral ways.  

Further, the people in Brave New World have very different views of goodness and beauty. In civilization, “art” is whatever happens to satisfy one’s sexual desires. That’s why most of the “feelies” (movies you can literally feel) are extremely pornographic with very little plot. Meanwhile, when John the Savage arrives in London, he is very well read in Shakespeare. He loves it because while Shakespeare’s plays often display the depravity of Man in his fallen state, he recognizes the beauty of humanity because there’s a higher morality. Thus, the struggle between Man wickedness and his capacity for good appeals to John.

This is a sign of civilization, as a civilized person strives for goodness. A savage strives not for beauty, but what satisfies his base desires. 

The savages in Brave New World are not the people living on the reservation. The true savages are those living in the “civilized” world, ruled by rampant hedonism. They may be easy to control, and it may have led to a peaceful world, but ultimately, they have no humanity. They lost it and became no better than intelligent apes. However, those living on the reservation are the truly civilized ones because they kept their humanity. They know what it is to struggle against the world and themselves. They acknowledge a higher morality that goes outside of themselves to live by. Thus, though they may live in squalor and have some backwards practices, they don’t deserve to be called savages.

Until next time,

M.J.