The Director, more formally known as the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, holds a position of significant power in the State’s operations and represents the ideal citizen at the beginning of the novel. He first appears as a guide for a group of young boys touring the Hatching and Conditioning Centre, enthusiastically explaining each step of the developmental processes that occur there. From a story-telling perspective, the Director’s character allows Huxley to introduce readers to the world of the novel without delaying or disrupting the momentum of the plot. As the Director explains key details about State values, the caste system, and social behaviors to his students, Huxley gives readers the information they will need to understand the rest of the novel. The other function that the Director serves early in the novel is as a symbol of an upstanding member of London society. While he certainly derives power from his position of authority at the Centre, he also earns the respect of others for being “so conventional [and] so scrupulously correct.” The Director gains even more influence from his ability to perfectly model the World State’s social values.

This ideal image, however, begins to fade as the truth about the Director’s past emerges. In Chapter 6, Bernard senses something strange when he goes to get his permit for New Mexico initialed and the Director begins telling him a story about his past, an act strongly frowned upon by the State. Once the Director realizes his mistake, he becomes “furious with himself for having given away a discreditable secret.” The two men already have a tense relationship, but this scenario increases the hostility between them as it opens the door for Bernard to challenge the Director’s reputation and authority. Since the Director perceives the telling of his secret as a significant threat, he has every intention of sending Bernard away to Iceland in order to maintain the status quo. Linda and John’s arrival, however, publicly exposes the Director’s unorthodoxy and drives him to resign from his position immediately. This rapid downfall emphasizes that no individual, regardless of their public status, is without faults and that no power structure is absolute. Uncovering the Director’s past reveals the weaknesses inherent in the World State’s philosophies and practices. 

Previous section Linda

Popular pages: Brave New World

Take a Study Break