Can the plays of Shakespeare help us to understand John’s behaviour? Does he use Shakespeare’s words in the same way that others recite hypnopaedic slogans?

Shakespeare is all about human nature in all its forms: primal, refined, subtle, passionate, and carnal. It is language about why we live and why we suffer. This society has taken the passion and meaning out of everything. John Savage thinks he can hold on to these feelings through memorising Shakespeare. To John, Shakespeare is more than slogans, Shakespeare represents a certain kind of mastery over language and emotion that he can feel in his bones.