"'O brave new world...' By some malice of his memory the Savage found himself repeating Miranda's words" (160).
The author alludes to Shakespeare's The Tempest when John utters these words. John returns to Shakespeare for comfort during times of duress, and in this situation he finds Miranda's words in The Tempest to be appropriate. These words are also the source of the novel's title which is very ironic. John finds this society to be a "brave new world," but the world is quite the opposite of that phrase. John- the one considered to be a savage- sees the modern advancements and the lack of emotion or individuality and deems it brave. The society in which John finds himself is not at all brave; they cower behind their social statuses and soma. This allusion is effective because the reader should be able to see the irony in John's choice of Shakespeare. The people in London avoid conflicts and feelings and instead rely on drugs to make them happy. That society is in no way brave, and John will soon come to realize that. He does not depend on society's training or pills, and he soon sees the imperfections surrounding him which those in the "brave" society avoid.
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