Do you agree with the savages claim in chapter 17 that god is the reason for everything noble and fine and heroic? Is it possible for us to create a utopia in which there is no need for heroism?
You really have to see things from where John Savage is coming from. This chapter makes clear that Mond considers religion to be the most destabilizing force in society. Mond does not deny the power that religion had in the past world and even claims that he believes in a god. However, he also claims that God has become irrelevant in modern society and now only manifests himself through absence. Huxley presents a strand of existential philosophy that maintains that God's non-existence created a world in which humanity could only find meaning through its own existence. Mond’s society has strictly controlled the parameters of this existence, leaving no room for a god. John Savage attempts to counter this argument with the example of the Indian civilization from which he came. Religion, Savage argues, comes naturally to man and will never entirely disappear. The religion of the Indians gives great meaning to their lives and provides the ability to endure turmoil and unhappiness. The idea of God, weather vengeful or not, can give society meaning .The very mythic nature of God, in whatever religion, gives the human psyche some thing more meaningful than the material world. Meaning is exactly what is missing in the world of Ford. Religion is not the only form of meaning but it is the first thing that Savage clings to in a sea of superficial values and emotionally vacuous people. I suppose there could be a utopia without heroism but human nature would have to radically change for this to happen.
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