Brave New World Spirituality Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Part.Paragraph)

Quote #13

"Then why on earth didn't you say so?" she cried, and so intense was her exasperation that she drove her sharp nails into the skin of his wrist. "Instead of drivelling away about knots and vacuum cleaners and lions, and making me miserable for weeks and weeks." (13.66)

Not only is this quote a reflection of the increasing tie between sex and violence in the novel, but it's a clear hint that John is a big-time Christ-figure. The quote also suggests that Lenina drives this aspect of his character.

Quote #14

"Oh, God, God, God…" the Savage kept repeating to himself. In the chaos of grief and remorse that filled his mind it was the one articulate word. "God!" he whispered it aloud. "God…" (14.55)

John turns to God not only because of Linda's death, but also because of the reaction to her death by others around him. It is this reaction that makes him realize how inhumane this community is, how "such people" live in this "brave new world."

Quote #15

"Don't take that horrible stuff. It's poison, it's poison."

[…]

"Poison to soul as well as body." (15.20-2)

Soma poisons the body by dulling the senses, but how does it damage the soul? One possible explanation is to look at the way the drug alters a person's identity by stripping him of choice. Most importantly, at least to John, it removes all possibility of suffering. Suffering, he believes, is the key to spiritual advancement and to being a human. In this way, soma is "poison to [the] soul."