"'But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.'
'In fact,' said Mustapha Mond, 'you're claiming the right to be unhappy.'
'All right then,' said the Savage defiantly, 'I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.'" pg. 240
It would sound ridiculous to a reader who wasn't familiar with the previous chapters of this book if they were introduced by this particular scene. Someone claiming the right to be unhappy? It seems absurd.
But, to someone who has read what the sort of happiness in this society entails, unhappiness may seem more agreeable. With happiness, beauty, science, and religion are not possible. They cause conflict and distraction. They upset the stability of the world, and in this society, stability reigns supreme. So by claiming a right to unhappiness, John in fact claims a right to feeling. He claims a right to beauty and the natural course of life. He claims a right to making his own decisions before they are made for him. However, in accepting all of these beautiful aspects of culture and lifestyle, he now realizes he must settle with not being eternally happy.
Though they were programmed to make the choice they did, the people in the advanced society are content with where they are. They can't want anything more because they are programmed to not want more than what they have.
However, to John who was not programmed like this and to others who were programmed wrong, this world of eternal happiness without beauty is not pleasing. They would rather claim a right to unhappiness and be able to have beauty consequently. It's worth the sacrifice.
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