Set Them Free (Brave New World)

"I'll teach you; I'll make you be free whether you want to or not." PAGE 213

After Linda passes away, John experiences an incidence of insanity. He strongly believes that his mother died because of the soma she had been taking. All of the people are addicted to the substance. John does not like it and tries to help the people, he thinks. John is trying to do what he believes is best for these people by trying to get them to stop taking the soma. He wants to protect these people from the same wretched end his mother endured. I think he takes it a step to far. It would have been acceptable, I think, to to make a spectacle of himself with his verbal advice. The fact that he went far enough to get rid of the soma to be distributed to the Deltas created a chaotic uproar that could have been avoided. The people obviously do not want to stop using the soma, but John will not take that for an answer. He is determined to free these people. Addiction seems to be not just accepted, but encouraged in their society. In our society today, people get help for addictions and usually try to stop when they know they have a problem. These people are killing themselves and do not care. The views regarding addiction differ drastically between our society today and the society described in the novel. John has the right idea in trying to get them to stop using the soma, but they do not agree.