"But instead of also saying 'Darling!' and holding out his arms, the Savage retreated in terror, flapping his hands at her as though he were trying to scare away some intruding and dangerous animal. Four backwards steps, and he was brought to bay against the wall." pg. 193
In this excerpt, the author compares Lenina to an animal, and perhaps this is how John views her in this moment as well. Maybe this is what she actually has been programmed to be, not really but figuratively.
All of these progressive humans do whatever they want all the time. They believe they should never feel pain or be discomforted. Even the thought is horrifying to them. They act on generalities and instinct alone. They are completely selfish beings. In many ways, they are similar to animals.
These people who claim to be so advanced can't even listen, feel, or respect. They just act, and when things become challenging, they run away to a different world created by hallucinatory medicine. Without love, without respect, without customs, humans really are just animals. Lenina refuses to feel anything but physical attraction for John, so she is like an animal. She is really no different from any other woman or even man in her society.
This concept is very similar to a concept expressed in the movie Surrogates. Those people don't want to experience pain or suffering so they live out their lives in surrogate bodies. They don't have to feel anything, and neither do the humans in this novel.
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