# Mr. Fox — The Inheritors character guide

> Mr. Fox in The Inheritors by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Fox, little Fox, spoof old Fox

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Snapshot

A full-faced, peremptory editor who reads manuscripts over Roquefort and plays a long game against rivals he never quite outlasts.

## Who they are

Fox runs the Hour and recruits the narrator, dispensing with ceremony while lunching with actresses and sizing up copy between courses. He is a founder fighting a cynical Chancellor for the soul of a government, using men like Soane and Granger as pieces. His charm and ruthlessness make him the narrator's patron and, eventually, a casualty of the very game he taught others to play.

## In the story

### [The Inheritors](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/the-inheritors)

A newspaper editor who employs the narrator, representing the established order and commercial journalism.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/ii)

Mentioned as the backer of the new paper and the one who needs a writer for a series of celebrity profiles.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/iii)

Fox is mentioned as the editor of the 'Hour' and a Dimensionist, part of the political duel with Gurnard.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/iv)

Fox explains the financial and political underpinnings of the Hour, revealing his own interests and the involvement of Churchill and the Duc de Mersch.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/vi)

Mentioned as having given the narrator a letter of introduction to Churchill.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/vii)

Mentioned as the one who wanted the atmosphere piece on Churchill.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/viii)

Utilizes the narrator for various tasks at the Hour; described as a vulgarian but a 'wonderful man' who gets what he wants.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/x)

Mentioned as the foreign correspondent at the Hour office.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xiii)

Not directly present in this chapter.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xiv)

Mentioned as part of the narrator's past work, but not present in the chapter.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xvi)

Found at the office, suffering from sciatica, lying on a scarlet couch, and asks the narrator to help put the Hour to bed.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xvii)

Ill and resting, he entrusts the narrator with overseeing the publication of Callan's article.

### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xviii)

Appears in the narrator's vision among the defeated figures from the past.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xix)

Referenced as having 'gone under' because he cared and grew blind to the world's shadows.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/characters/fox
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/characters