Essay Draft: 1979 Prompt

Prompt:

1979 Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of
recognized literary merit who might, on the basis of the character’s actions alone, be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary. 

Pre-write:

    
Essay Draft:

    When John the Savage walks into the futuristic society of the "Brave New World" filled with advanced scientific practices and biologically engineered bodies, he doesn't fit in at all. In fact, the citizens consider him to be quite immoral and alienate themselves from him. Aldous Huxley, however, presents John in such a unique way that makes the readers feel sympathetic towards him despite the opinions of the citizens.

       Just as John the Savage is introduced, Huxley immediately creates a sense of pathos towards him. John is one of the few characters in the book that stands up for himself and has faults. When he shares flashbacks about the times he saw his mother being harassed and beaten, the readers can't help but feel bad for him. As they read further along in the book, these incidents will always be in the back of their mind. Also, John's offensive epithet promptly characterizes him as a barbarous, unpolished person. This helps promote the sense that John is mistreated and shunned by his peers which, again, brings out a heartache in the readers for him.
      Additionally, the actions of John when he enters the "Brave New World" help to build the compassionate feeling in the readers. "'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?'" John's emotions explode out of him when his mother dies and he is horrified that everybody is so calm and composed. When people die it's natural for others to react so intensely and the readers understand that. They feel for John when he goes crazy and pours out all the soma he can get his hands on. Unable to deal with the grief, John ends up committing suicide at the end of the book which leaves the readers reminiscing one last time of all the horrible events John had to live through. 
      In conclusion,  Aldous Huxley's techniques and use of literary terms really created a sense of sympathy towards John the Savage. Even though he was corrupt in the eyes of the citizens of the "Brave New World", the readers couldn't help but empathize with John.