Childhood’s End: Chapter 18 Summary & Analysis

Six weeks later, Jeffrey begins have strange dreams. George wakes suddenly in the night, which is strange for him, and he can hear Jean in the children’s bedroom, talking to Jeffrey. Jeffrey explains his dream—not a nightmare, exactly—about being in a foreign place with snowless mountains covered in blue-flame, watching as a blue sun rapidly rose over the horizon. His parents tell him to go back to sleep, though they are disturbed, as well. Jeffrey says he thinks he’ll try to return to that strange place.

On the Overlord ship, Karellen and Rashaverak are discussing Jeffrey’s dream. Rashaverak is sure he knows which planet Jeffrey saw in his dream, though it appeared that the boy was experiencing time much more quickly than it normally occurs. Rashaverak says that is all he can determine without directly questioning Jeffrey, but Karellen warns him away from doing so, saying that they must not let their own curiosity interfere with the course of events, even if George and Jean reach out to them for help. Karellen tells Rashaverak to keep watching them, but not to interfere.

Jeff seems normal when he is awake, which is a small comfort to his parents, but every night he dreams of unknown places. George and Jean ask him to describe his dreams each morning; sometimes he can and sometimes he can’t, though never because he cannot remember them clearly—he does in fact, see them as memories—only because he doesn’t always have words to describe the strangeness of what he has seen.

Rashaverak and Karellen observe one of Jeffrey’s dreams—which is actually Jeffrey traveling out of his own body—and trying to guess at where he is going. They cannot, but they agree that, in any case, he is moving further away from “home.” They observe another dream, seeing a planet that looks quite like Earth but with massive columns rising out of the oceans. Rashaverak is awed, stating that Jeffrey has reached the “center of the Universe.” They see another planet, this one absolutely flattened by its own gravity. Flat beings crawl upon its surface, and Karellen and Rashaverak discuss the difficulties that Rashaverak and his scientists have had exploring it, as well as the errors they have made. They see another planet with six suns and an irregular orbit. Rashaverak states that this planet is new, beyond the reaches even of the Overlords. Jeffrey has departed their galaxy, and they suspect there may not be much time left.

Later, Rashaverak meets with George and Jean, at George’s request. They remember each other from Rupert’s party. Rashaverak expresses that he is trying to understand what is happening just as George and Jean are, which shocks George, as he had assumed that Overlords were practically omniscient. George goes on to say that he is guessing that Jeffrey’s dreams are of real places, since they are so specific and bizarre. Rashaverak does not confirm this, but he also does not deny it.

George goes on to say that while he does not believe in the supernatural, something happened with Jennifer. Rashaverak tells him that he knows this, as he saw it. George is only partially surprised, but when he protests, saying that Karellen had said he would no longer surveil humans, Rashaverak implies that George and Jean’s children are no longer human.

During their meeting, the narration briefly looks back upon the incident with Jennifer that George referred to: the infant had been laying on her back with her eyes closed for a long time. She would no longer open them, for it seemed she no longer needed her sight. Her toy rattle, however, continued shaking, waking Jean who got up to see what was happening. The baby was smiling, and the rattle was hovering in the air shaking on its own. “Soon, she would pass her brother, for she had much less to unlearn.”

Back in their meeting, Rashaverak tells George and Jean that it was clever not to disrupt Jennifer and the rattle, for he cannot guess what may have happened if Jennifer was irritated. However, there is nothing that Rashaverak can do. He explains to the parents that their children just happened to be the first to achieve Total Breakthrough, which he felt certain would be the case after the night at Rupert’s party. Rashaverak explains that Jeffrey and Jennifer are experiencing an early version of something that is like telepathy, though not exactly.

George struggles with all these ideas, but they begin to form in his head. He feels that it explains many things that have happened since Rupert’s party. He asks Rashaverak who caused this, but Rashaverak has no answer. He explains that many races have gone through this same process and are waiting for humanity to join them. As for the Overlords, they are only there to aid the process. As Rashaverak explains it, “We are the midwives. But we ourselves are barren.” George understands that this is a great tragedy for the Overlords, a forever unfulfilled desire.

George also understands why the Overlords have been watching and protecting Jeffrey. He is a subject of study, something from which the Overlords are learning, and they cannot sacrifice that. When George asks what he and Jean should do with their children, Rashaverak tells them to make the most of the time they have left together, since it will not be much.