Brave New World

In the second section of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, the reader is introduced to a new primary character, John. Huxley utilizes a literary technique of a flashback to introduce the reader to John. This allows the reader to view the experiences and events from the past that have shaped John into the character when meet in the middle of the book. This gives the reader some idea of his feelings and motivations throughout the novel. The flashbacks consist mainly of events from his childhood, centering around his mother's downward spirals and neglect, as well as his harassment from the natives. The biggest event for John we see in his flashback is him learning to read, which open the door for him to learn of other cultures and saved him from the biggest pains of isolation. The reading enticed him "it talked to him; talked wonderfully and only half-understandably, a terrible beautiful magic..." (132). This wonderful feeling we see him have about reading explains his current love of poetry and words. Without the flashback, John would not be such a sympathetic character.