Quote 22
"Listen, I beg of you," cried the Savage earnestly. "Lend me your ears…" He had never spoken in public before, and found it very difficult to express what he wanted to say. "Don't take that horrible stuff. It's poison, it's poison." (15.20)
It's interesting that John finds himself at first ineloquent, given that he's had so much experience with the greatest works of literature. But this raises an important question: does John think for himself, or does he simply regurgitate Shakespeare's words? He certainly uses Shakespeare as a safety net here…
Quote 23
The Savage was silent for a little. "All the same," he insisted obstinately, "Othello's good, Othello's better than those feelies."
"Of course it is," the Controller agreed. "But that's the price we have to pay for stability. You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We've sacrificed the high art." (16.28-9)
Does Mustapha's argument about happiness make sense here? It seems as though he's basing everything on the claim that "happiness" is only possible in a state of ignorance…
Quote 24
"Don't you want to be free and men? Don't you even understand what manhood and freedom are?" Rage was making him fluent; the words came easily, in a rush. "Don't you?" he repeated, but got no answer to his question. "Very well then," he went on grimly. "I'll teach you; I'll make you be free whether you want to or not." And pushing open a window that looked on to the inner court of the Hospital, he began to throw the little pill-boxes of soma tablets in handfuls out into the area. (15.37)
John moves rather quickly from the "ineloquence" of inexperience to the "fluency" of rage. Passion, the text seems to argue, is not only a part of the human experience, but in fact enables the human experience—with passion, man can be an individual, can have an opinion, and can disagree, fight, and interact in a way that isn't otherwise possible.