Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' is a novel of dystopia exhibited by the cold scientific world and its inhabitants. It is a story of the survival of the human race or somewhat various individuals who are trying to inhabit a world in which the individual spirit is considered not to exist. Similarly, the 'Uglies' by Scott Westerfield is also a dystopic novel that is set in the future upon precipitation of modern society from the mysterious global catastrophe. Due to fear of war and violence, various cities agree for a greater good to operate as independent, isolated, and self-sufficient states. Therefore the focus of this essay is to compare the main characters in the two novels i.e., Shay in the 'Uglies' and John the Savage in the 'Brave new world.’
Shay’s Character In the ‘Uglies’
To begin with, Shay has several things against the society in which she lives. She has always perceived the city wrong and shallow, particularly when meeting some of her friends getting to the outside city merely because they are escaping the pretties, uglies, the forced fun, and the operation (Westerfeld & Grayson, 2012). Shay seems to rebel against every aspect of the pretty surgery system for some debatable reasons.
For instance, she is against the pretty surgery because she believes it could change who a person is. However, because of her, she is a motivator because Tally travels to the smoke (Westerfeld & Grayson, 2012). Again, it is because of Shay that Tally has to finally give herself up to observe whether Maddy's cure for experimental brain damage would work.
John the Savage in the ‘Brave New World.'
John the Savage in the 'Brave new world' appears to represent some fictional philosophical figure referred to as noble Savage, who is a primitive man who grows up in the world and has some sense of morality (Huxley, 2007). He portrays civilization as having a corrupting influence on human beings rather than being an ennobling one. John is not portrayed as a native Indian but rather a lost indistinguishable world State People.
Similar to Native America, the Reservation Indians, as exhibited in Brave New World, have their well set of values, customs, and rules that are internalized by John (Huxley, 2007). He has been trained to value masculinity and strength, and he is unable to prove himself through some traditional tribal rituals. For instance, the tribe implores the need for divine reverence and the prohibition of promiscuity and prostitutes.
Similarities between John the Savage in the ‘Brave New World’ and Shay in the ‘Uglies’
Both John the Savage and Shay are facing some societal and identity conflicts. For instance, Shay is not at peace with her society- a society where people encourage immoral behaviors such as the pretty surgeries (Huxley, 2007).
She believes that such pretty surgeries are likely to have detrimental effects on the brain and distort the appearance of a person. As such, she perceives her city as wrong and shallow. Similarly, John the Savage faces a conflict between traditional Indian life and civilization.
Like Shay, John is quite moral and believes that the traditional Indian system is more capable of teaching morality than western culture. As such, Reservation culture plays has a significant influence on his decisions. Like the moral Shay, John believes that the Indian tradition is accurate in teaching against polygamy and promiscuity, among other societal vices.
Both John the Savage and Shay are facing some societal and identity conflicts. However, unlike Shay, who sees several things against her society, John the Savage believes that his traditional society is capable of restoring morality through the taught societal norms, values, and rules.Differences between John the Savage in the ‘Brave New World’ and Shay in the ‘Uglies’
There are some distinct differences between John the Savage in the 'Brave New World' and Shay in the 'Uglies.' For instance, unlike Shay, who sees several things against her society, John the Savage believes that his traditional society is capable of restoring morality through the taught societal norms, values, and rules.
John, the 'savage,' is a representation of a natural human being whose naturalness is in contrast with come mechanization of the World State (Huxley, 2007). Unlike in the Brave New World, where John's conditioning results in his ultimate downfall, the portrayal of Shay in the 'Uglies' remains consistent to the end with championing against pretty surgeries. Shay is determined to run to a place called smoke to escape the series of extreme surgeries to conform to societal beauty standards.
In conclusion, Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ and the ‘Uglies’ by Scott Westerfield are dystopic scientific novels. While the Brave New World’ is a story of the survival of the human race or rather various individuals who are trying to inhabit a world in which the individual spirit is considered not to exist, the ‘Uglies’ is set in the future upon precipitation of the modern society from the mysterious global catastrophe.
Both John the Savage and Shay are facing some societal and identity conflicts. However, unlike Shay, who sees several things against her society, John the Savage believes that his traditional society is capable of restoring morality through the taught societal norms, values, and rules.
