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A.C. Clarke: Childhood's End


 First published in 1954 Childhood's End explores a theme which runs throughout much of his science fiction, the application of the theory of Evolution not simply to human society but to the Universe itself. His theory of the 'Overmind', which presides over the universe, is essentially mystical and, by that token, is almost incomprehensible to human intelligence. In Childhood's End Clarke relies on a favourite motif, that of new evolutionary developments within humans which are part of some larger process not fully understood by 'rational' intelligence alone. In The City and the Stars, (1956), Clarke depicts a future society in which Man has become trapped in a cocoon-like existence in fabulous cities, and is only jolted out out of this stasis by new evolutionary developments in one of the city's young citizens. In The Sentinel, the story which inspired 2001: A Space Odyssey, Man is shown to be a kind of experiment, unable to understand his place in the wider scheme of things, a cosmos presided over by a kind of mental energy/intelligence comparable to the 'Overmind' in Childhood's End.
(I)One of the characteristics of Clarke's writing is its technical and narrative inventiveness, lacing the tale (often 'epic' in proportion and vision) with wonder after wonder. Childhood's End is no exception to this, and perhaps a helpful way of approaching the novel is to try to chart the various surprises and twists of the novel as it unfolds. Try, then, to map out the various stages of the novel, and the ways in which it leads the reader to develop and then reformulate hypotheses. Is there any kind of function to this kind of technique? Is he attempting to keep alive the sense of wonder and puzzlement?
(Ii) In its implications the novel is rich and involving. What do you think follows from his introduction of various ideas, including those connected with "racial premonitions" of images of devils, or in the very idea of the "Overmind"? What, in particular, does the novel demonstrate in terms of insights into, or perspectives on, the human race, human identity and human desires and aspirations? What implications do his ideas have for theories of religion, of society, of history, and of man's place in the scheme of things?
(Iii)Like The Time Machine (and it is worth remembering just how much Clarke owes to earlier Science Fiction pioneers such as Wells), Childhood's End is a novel that seems ultimately pessimistic, anti-utopian and even bleak in its final apocalyptic vision of the human race, and of human notions of progress and civilisation. Given that the novel was written in the 1950s, what does this suggest about Clarke's motives for providing this vision of the ultimate futility of purely human-centred notions of progress, including faith in science and technology? Is Clarke's perspective an essentially humanist one, or does he resort to a kind of mystical transcendentalism within which human values are simply irrelevant when set against the cosmic scheme of things? What, in short, is Clarke's vision of Man and Humanity in this novel? You might look at Karellan's initial statement of the need to bring about a 'World State' (Ch. 4), or his disclosure of the "real" reasons for the intervention of the Overlords (Ch. 20), to save Man from his own destructiveness and meglomania.

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