Brave New World 13-18

"That evening the swarm of helicopters that came buzzing across the Hog's Back was a dark cloud ten kilometers long. The description of last night's orgy of atonement had been in all the papers.

'Savage!' called the first arrivals, as they alighted from their machine. 'Mr. Savage!'

There was no answer." -(pg. 230)

As the final chapters are winding down a new and major conflict arises between Mustapha Mond and John the savage through their theological debates. Mond supports the ideals of the World State and the use of soma to control the population and maintain social stability. John however finds many flaws in Mond's argument, and supports a society based on truth over happiness. John criticizes the World State for with-holding religious text and its subsequent replacement by soma. Also John points out the irony of a society that claims science is so very important when in reality the citizens have never personally nor even seen anyone testing scientific hypotheses in the search for truth or enlightenment.

The dramatic result of this heated debate between Mond and John takes an unfortunate turn as John breaks under Lenina's sexual pressure combined with the Society's absolute contradiction of his most basic principles. John is left completely alone to take on these pressures after his mother had died and both Bernard and Helmholtz were exiled. Huxley allows the reader to draw their own conclusions as to exactly why John chooses to commit suicide, but the final orgy combined with Lenina's inability to recognize John's feelings or system of values are what break the final straw (and his neck).

Q: What message(s) does Huxley intend to send by ending the novel with John the savage's suicide?