Characters

The Main Characters of Brave New World


John: The son of the Director and Linda. John is the only main character to have grown up outside of the World State. He is an outsider, born on the Savage Reservation. John finds it difficult to fit in at World State because he grew up on a Reservation where there was such thing as marriage, natural birth, family life, religion, and even literature.

The Director: The Director administrates the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. He is a threatening figure, with the power to exile Bernard to Iceland. But he is secretly vulnerable because he fathered John as a child, who was born on the Savage Reservation instead of in World State. This situation puts him at risk of his position at the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre.
The Arch Community Songster

Linda: Linda is John’s mother, and a Beta. While visiting the New Mexico Savage Reservation, she became pregnant with the Director’s son (John). Due to a storm and a head injury, Linda did was found by a group of Indians. Despite Linda's desires to have an abortion, she could not get one on the Reservation. Due to Linda's overwhelming shame, she is ashamed to return to World State because of her promiscuity. Linda is conflicted with the feelings of returning to World State, but weighing the consequences of being a social outcast.

Lenina Crowne: A vaccination worker at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. She is an object of desire for a number of individuals including Bernard Marx and John. Sometimes her behaviour is unacceptable in World State. For example, she was in a relationship for several months, which is considered obscene in World State. Lenina can be considered a misfit, developing violent passions towards John [the Savage].

Fanny Crowne: Fanny is one of Lenina Crowne’s friend. Both Lenina and Fanny have the same last name because only 10,000 names are used in World State. Fanny’s role is mainly to voice the conventional values of her caste and society. She warns Lenina that she should have more men in her life because it looks bad to concentrate on one man for too long (which is against World State values).

Henry Foster: Henry Foster is an Alpha male. Henry is a scientist, a statistician, and assistant to the Director at the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. He is also one of Lenina's many lovers. He often discusses Lenina's body to his coworkers.

Bernard Marx: Bernard Marx is a sleep-learning specialist at the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. Bernard is unusually short for an Alpha male due to an accident with alcohol in his blood-surrogate before his decanting. Unlike is fellow people, he is often jealous, angry, and resentful. This is due to his incomplete conditioning. Bernard is in love with Lenina, though he doesn't approve of her sleeping with other men even though "everyone belongs to everyone else." Bernard returns to New World State with John the Savage and that leads to the downfall of the Director, who then plans to exile him. Although Bernard pleas against his exile, he is banished for his non-conformant behaviour.

Mustapha Mond: The Resident World Controller of Western Europe, one of only 10 World Controllers. Mustapha was once a young scientist performing research that was against World State. He was given the choice of exile, or to undergo training to become a World Controller. He had chosen to give up his scientific research and become a World Controller. Mustapha now enforces the beliefs of the New World State. He keeps a collection of forbidden texts in his safe, some of them including Shakespeare and the Bible. Mond argues that art, literature, and scientific freedom must be given up in order to maintain societal happiness. He argues that by giving up these things, it will lead to social stability among World State.

Helmholtz Watson: Helmholtz is an Alpha lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering. Despite his steady work, he feels that it is empty and meaningless. He and Bernard are friends because they find a mutual understanding in their dislikes towards World State.