Dr. Jedidiah Barnes
Quick Facts
- Role: Head official of The Testing; high-ranking United Commonwealth authority based in Tosu City
- First appearance: Chapter 5
- Public persona: Warm, paternal, reassuring
- Private reality: Architect and enforcer of a ruthless meritocracy designed by his father
- Appearance: Gray-haired, bearded, purple jumpsuit; a polished smile and calm voice that disarm the candidates
- Key relationships: Malencia “Cia” Vale; the cohort of Testing candidates
Who They Are
At first glance, Dr. Jedidiah Barnes seems like the benevolent guardian of national renewal—a genial figure ushering the “best and brightest” into an elite process. In truth, he embodies the regime’s philosophy of Social Engineering and Control: people are data points, losses are acceptable, and emotions are liabilities. As the inheritor of his father’s design, Barnes is a second-generation steward of institutional cruelty, operating with serene conviction that ends justify means. His soft-spoken encouragement cloaks a machine calibrated for culling, making him the quintessential face of Deception and Manipulation by Authority and a chilling emblem of the The Price of Success.
Personality & Traits
Barnes’s power rests on the friction between image and intent. He excels at making the deadly feel dignified, translating violence into “standards” and grief into “purpose.” Even his wardrobe and gentle cadence are strategic: a paternal costume that lowers defenses while he measures, sorts, and eliminates.
- Authoritative and charismatic: His opening address turns fear into aspiration, presenting the competition as a national honor rather than a battlefield, and aligning personal ambition with state needs (Chapter 5).
- Manipulative and deceptive: He reframes danger as opportunity, urging candidates to “lead” while sending them into lethal conditions. The warmth is deliberate—control through consent rather than overt force.
- Pragmatic and ruthless: After Ryme Reynald dies by suicide, he labels it her “choice to end her candidacy” (Chapter 7), recoding a tragedy as a successful filter. This utilitarian calculus exemplifies Morality in a Corrupt System.
- Perceptive and calculating: In the final interview, he targets emotional ties and psychological fault lines with surgical questions, then unveils his surveillance capabilities by referencing a missing candidate’s bracelet (Chapter 21).
Character Journey
Barnes does not change—he clarifies. From genial host to omniscient interrogator, each appearance strips away another layer of illusion. He begins as the smiling master of ceremonies and ends as the quiet architect whose reach exceeds the candidates’ imagination. His static nature is thematic: he represents the entrenched permanence of state violence and the institutional memory that outlasts individual dissent. By the novel’s end, the question isn’t who Barnes is—he’s painfully clear—but whether anyone can survive the structure he so calmly maintains.
Key Relationships
- Malencia “Cia” Vale: With Malencia "Cia" Vale, Barnes plays examiner and executioner, probing for empathy as weakness. In her final interview, he tests whether her loyalty to Tomas Endress can be leveraged or must be excised, turning romance into a metric.
- The Testing Candidates: To the broader cohort, Barnes is both shepherd and scythe. He sets rules, frames deaths as necessary, and offers just enough hope to keep the system intact—proof that fear and aspiration can be made to coexist when engineered by a trusted face.
Defining Moments
Barnes’s most revealing scenes show how language and policy fuse into power. He doesn’t merely run the Testing; he narrates it, transforming cruelty into civic duty.
- The Welcoming Address (Chapter 5): He greets 108 candidates and outlines the stages, pointedly highlighting “colonies we haven’t seen in years.”
- Why it matters: By spotlighting Five Lakes, he subtly paints targets, manipulating social dynamics before the tests even begin.
- Rationalizing Ryme’s Death (Chapter 7): After Ryme’s suicide, he calls it an unfortunate event that nonetheless proves the system works.
- Why it matters: The euphemism reduces a person to process, revealing how institutional language sanitizes harm to preserve legitimacy.
- The Final Interview (Chapter 21): Barnes leads Cia’s evaluation, interrogating her emotional ties and closing with a cryptic remark about Zandri’s bracelet, proving his informational dominance over the candidates and panel.
- Why it matters: The moment fuses surveillance, psychology, and policy, exposing the breadth of his control and the futility of secrecy.
Essential Quotes
“You are here because you are the best and the brightest. On your shoulders rest the hopes of everyone in the United Commonwealth. Here among you are the future leaders of our country. All leaders must be tested, which is the process that you will begin today.” — Dr. Barnes, Chapter 5
This speech rebrands danger as duty. By yoking personal ambition to national destiny, Barnes converts consent into compliance: if leadership demands testing, then survival becomes not self-preservation but patriotic obligation.
“This event is unfortunate, but The Testing served its purpose. He hopes Ryme’s choice to end her candidacy will not impact the results of mine.” — Dr. Barnes, Chapter 7
His phrasing is surgical, draining the scene of human sorrow. By calling death a “purpose,” he legitimizes loss as data—an institutional reflex that protects the system from moral scrutiny.
“I’m concerned you might be too emotionally attached to candidate Endress.” — Dr. Barnes, Chapter 21
Barnes recasts love as liability, turning a private bond into a professional deficiency. The line reveals his evaluative lens: emotions are variables to be minimized, not qualities to be understood or valued.
“And here I thought you had that figured out. Perhaps the answer will come to you after this interview is over. After all, you do have her identification bracelet in your bag.” — Dr. Barnes, Chapter 21
The casual revelation of what Cia carries is a flex of omniscience. By timing the disclosure as a parting shot, Barnes maximizes psychological pressure, reminding candidates that nothing—acts, objects, secrets—escapes the system he directs.