An Analysis Of "Savage" John's Identity Construction In Brave New World From The Perspective Of Spatial Criticism

Brave New World is a novel written by British author Aldous Leonard Huxley(1894-1963)and published in 1932.It is considered as one of the twentieth century dystopian classics.The novel presents a nightmarish vision of a future world in which the seemingly perfect happiness comes at the expense of moral degradation and dehumanization.Ever since its publication,scholars have largely studied this novel's dystopian vision from the aspects of power and culture,but a few have studied it from the perspective of spatial theory.This thesis attempts to explore the connection between space and identity in the novel,especially the construction of identity of the protagonist “Savage” John.By studying the interplay among physical,social and mental spaces,the thesis reveals the impact of social culture on John's identity construction and concludes that his failure results from the dehumanization of Sci-Tech and the cultural totalitarianism on individual.This thesis is made up of six chapters.Chapter One introduces Aldous Huxley and his writing career,offers an overview of Brave New World,and illustrates the research questions and method of this thesis,Chapter Two explains the theoretical framework and the relations between space and identity.From Chapter Three to Chapter Five are the main body.Chapter Three explores John's identity pursuit with the shift of physical space.The shift of physical space not only promotes the development of the story,but also indicates the change of identity.By interpreting the unique physical spaces of the Reservation and the World state,the author intends to explore the conflict of civilization behind them,which causes John unable to integrate into the two places,therefore,lighthouse becomes the ultimate choice for John to find his own identity.Chapter Four explores John's identity dilemma in social space.Social space mainly refers to the social relations and social values.The main social relations around John are the new humans who have been disciplined by the World state.For John,he can't get any identification from them;hence,the identity dilemma is gradually intensified.Chapter Five analyzes the identity reconstruction and failure in mental space.In mental space,John staunchly pursues his own spiritual world and aspires to reconstruct his identity.While in the journey of self-construction,John's mental world collapses eventually due to the conflict and deviation between John's values and the dominating World state's values.Finally,the thesis concludes the influence of different spaces on the construction of John's identity and illustrates that it is difficult for individuals to escape the influence of space.