The Tragedy of Family

"...or rather the ex-Director, for the poor man had resigned immediately afterwards and never set foot indside the Centre again-..." Pg. 153

     At the beginning of the novel, the students' ears were pierced with the sound of the word "father." Once again, the word brings humiliation to the Director. While it is sad that such a word can ruin a career because it implies that two people loved enough to create their own child, the true tragedy is the elbowing for social acceptance which uses the relationship of John and the Director as a sort of damaging gossip. Characters like the Director have nothing else to strive for in life besides social standing. That's the problem with having everytning you ever need. John is the outlier in this situation. He has no ambition of being involved with the caste system because he feels the need to be close to Lenina. While his old world inhibits him from doing so, the world he is now a part of encourages it, and he struggles with the World State mindset.