Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Childhood’s End, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Mysticism
Benevolent Dictatorship and Freedom
Utopia and Creative Apathy
Individuality, Globalization, and Progress
The Fate of Humanity
Summary
Analysis
Jeffrey Greggson, though he has no interest in art or science, loves the colony. He spends much time swimming in the ocean, bicycling with his friends, and playing with the family dog, Fey, who is obsessed with him (to George’s dismay, since he is jealous of Fey’s affection.) Jennifer Greggson is still an infant, and thus has no opinion of New Athens or anywhere else in the world.
This introduction of Jeffrey, at least initially, presents him as being as utterly average as his father. George and Jean’s family are happier and healthier than they ever were, however, suggesting that utopia is not actually the ideal state for mankind.
Themes
George is so busy with his work that he rarely thinks about the past, except to spare an occasional thought for Jan, now somewhere in the vastness of space aboard an Overlord ship. For his own part, George has no interest in comprehending the vastness of the universe or seeing the unknown and he agrees with Karellen: “The stars are not for man.”
The contrast between George and Jan is stark—George is happy to be in one place and amidst the familiar, Jan seeks new horizons and adventure. Yet each has now found what they are seeking in life. This implies that in a future, non-utopian society, there is room for both attitudes. Some must carry the human race into new frontiers, as Jan is, and some must raise families and work to refine what is already there, is George is.
Themes
George comes home, complaining that Jeffrey always seems to be out of the house when George is in it. Jean explains that he and his friends are swimming on the other island, the volcano. George considers going over there to catch a fish for dinner, but he is cut short when a siren begins wailing.
George and find themselves at risk of losing their son to a natural disaster, something that likely would not have happened if they had remained in the modern utopian world. Stepping out of technological utopia, they have once again placed their family in the risk inherent to the natural world, suggesting that mortal risk is one of the necessary costs of a fruitful and stimulating life.
Themes
Jeffrey is exploring the beach alone when a tremor briefly shakes the land. The water begins to rush away from the land and Jeff follows it, hoping to find something interesting in the newly exposed rock. He stops when he hears the sound of water moving swiftly beneath the rocks.
Jeffrey, despite his mortal danger, seems a healthy young child, bold enough to explore on his own and curious enough to follow the water out. It would seem that New Athens, with its recreational opportunities and physical challenges, is a far more ideal place to raise healthy children than the utopian world—even with the potential for danger it introduces.
Themes
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A salvage party finds Jeffrey, hours later, sitting on a slab of coral that had been thrown out of the ocean by the tsunami. He is unhurt and untroubled, except for the fact that he lost his bicycle. Jean bursts into tears when she is reunited with Jeffery, having thought that he was killed by the wave.
Jeffrey is, as young children often are, resilient in the face of disaster, notably unburdened by his near-death experience.
Themes
Jeffrey cannot explain what happened, except that a voice had guided him to safety. George presses him to recall everything that happened: a voice spoke in his head, telling him to get to high ground or he would be killed. As he was making his way, he found his path blocked by a massive stone. The voice told him to close his eyes and shield his face with his hands. Jeffrey did so, there was a flash, and when he looked again, the stone was gone, apparently burned away because the path was hot.
Significantly, in his childlike openness, Jeffrey does not question the seemingly god-like voice that directed him to safety or the disappearance of the boulder. He is neither skeptical nor cynical about the experience, as an adult would be. He simply observes it, obeys it, and then relays it to George and Jean. This openness, it will later be seen, is a critical aspect of Jeffrey’s character and enables his future development.
Themes
George and Jean put Jeffrey to bed and then have several discussions about what it could possibly mean. The next day, Jean takes Jeffrey to the local psychologist, who thinks that there is nothing more to it than an active imagination—no illness. This is little comfort to George, however.
George, who most often resists change, is particularly disturbed by these events. As the representation of the average, George’s disruption over his child particularly foreshadows the future disruption of society.
Themes
Weeks later, when the debris has been cleared, George rides his bike to the beach and sees the patch of melted stone in the path, meaning that Jeffrey’s story was true. Though he tries to convince himself it was naturally-caused, he cannot believe it. Finally, George says to himself, “Thank you, Karellen, for whatever your people did for Jeff. But I wish I knew why they did it.”
In his human penchant for mysticism, George attributes godhood to the Overlords. George prays to Karellen in his head, assuming that Karellen, omniscient, would be able somehow to hear him. But of course, Karellen is merely another living being and cannot. This once again reiterates the way in which, lacking a central god figure, human beings so often try to ascribe mystical meaning or deity to something else. It would seem that there is comfort in dwelling beneath such a figure.
Themes
