"One egg, one embryo, one adult- normality. But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before. Progress" (6).
Throughout the first chapter, the Director speaks to the young students about the advancements of human development. The tone adopted by both the Director and Mr. Foster is of pure enthusiasm for the knowledge and wondrous processes contained in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. As for the eager students, they exhibit awe for the Director and his explanations, writing down his words with zeal. The combination of these tones- enthusiasm, wonder, respect- establishes other themes reflected throughout the novel. Although the tones of the men touring the Centre are positive, they demonstrate a coldness, a lack of emotion. The processes so admired lack familiarity to the audience because humans are not "hatched." In this modern society, however, the love and human contact involved in creating a human has been completely eradicated. The process seems so detached and apathetic, yet the men in the Centre praise the progress achieved. This detachment from emotion and this preference for scientific processes are shared by nearly everyone in the modern society, and that theme is established with the tour of the Centre. I had some difficulty following the descriptions of the hatching process and did not view the process as a great scientific advancement. It seemed to me that the ways of life and workings of this society stemmed from this horrible process, and the author used the description of the process and the characters' tones to further his theme.
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