Plays, Poems, and Lyrics

"'The murkiest den, the most opportune place' (the voice of conscience thundered poetically), 'the strongest suggestion our worser genius can, shall never melt mine honour into lust. Never, never!' he resolved." (pg. 192)
As John instinctively quotes The Tempest, I was reminded of a person who has turrets; it is almost like John can't prevent his outbursts of Shakespeare. When he gets nervous, it seems second nature to John to use the words of Shakespeare to express his feelings, rather than thinking of words himself. Similiarly, Fezzik in The Princess Bride uses rhymes when he is nervous; it comforts him like Shakespeare comforts John. Even Lenina got into the mood of using poetry to display her emotions with lyrics from society's songs. Sometimes, our own words aren't enough to describe our feelings. Instead, I find that songs can comfort me and describe what I am feeling. Even when the situation isn't the same, the lyrics can capture an emotion in a way that nothing else can. Othello, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, King Lier, and Timon of Athens are a few, but not all of the works that John quotes. I find it interesting that he feels such a connection with the words of Shakespeare; he doesn't even understand all of the situations himself, because although his life on the reservation is closer to the situations described in Shakespeare than life in society, times have still changed immensely. I think part of his connection is due to the fact that the book of Shakespeare is all his own, nobody else's. Similiarly, I believe that John is all his own man, a lone person who will never have to conform to a society. If he can survive in the "Brave New World".