"stars are not for man"
Arthur C. Clarke is perhaps best known for his concentration in writing sci-fi novels. At the first glance, the Childhood’s End is quite easy to mistaken into the same genre as Clarke’s other works. However, after reading the book for some time, readers can sense the message that the book is conveying, which is distinctively different from that of Clarke’s other sci-fi novels. Despite Clarke’s commonly depicted theme of mankind conquering the universe, Childhood’s End has a unique, recurrent theme of “the stars are not for man”. Unlike the typical alien invaders, the Overlords’ arrival brought Earth peace and prosperity. Aside from the overall development of human society and the universal human yearning to explore the space, the study of space programs was prohibitively banned by the Overlords. Karellen, the Overlord who called himself the “supervisor” of Earth, in a press conference regarding the incident of Jan sneaking into their spaceship, reemphasized that “stars are not for man”. This lasting theme is significant because interestingly, Clarke, in the prologue, wrote that “the opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author”. Pertaining to Clarke’s other famous novels, in which he advocates that mankind should go out to explore the unknown, it is not difficult understanding the reason why Clarke stresses the disclaimer upon the opening of Childhood’s End. And perhaps, the unusual theme illustrated in it is precisely the reason Childhood’s End became one of Clarke’s most recognized works.
Childhood’s End vividly illustrates a case of aliens who seemingly sided with mankind by supervising the development of human society and opening the gate to a golden age, who at the same time, paradoxically, directed mankind to proceed to the end of humanity and ultimately, the destruction of Earth. The storyline gives away the central idea (the thesis) that the author is expressing – as content as one might be about their current status, one should always seek for improvement. It is implied that being too content about one’s environment could possibly lead to a detrimental outcome. For instance, in the story, mankind gets used to letting the Overlords handle their affairs such that in the end, they are too laidback to actively find out a way to avoid the destruction of their own kind. Certainly, a doomed future is what a race that’s left behind receives. The same idea is expressed from the eyes of Karellen. At the end of the story, after Earth explodes, Karellen watches the last remnant of Earth vanishes in the Universe as he wonders the secrets of the Overminds who are superior to all races. Karellen, who witnesses numerous civilizations being ruthlessly eliminated from the history of the universe, is fully aware of the rule “survival of the fittest”. The author suggests that Karellen, as well as the race of the Overlord, is eager to discover the secrets of the Overminds. And one day, the Overlords might be able to find a way to advance into a higher form of beings to release themselves from the Overminds.
I like the way the author pays attention to the details. For example, one of the ironies implied in the book is that the Overlords, who are initially considered the mankind’s saviors, look almost exactly like the Devil. “The leathery wings, the little horns, the barbed tail – all were there. The most terrible of all legends had come to life, out of the unknown past.” There’s no accident that Clarke constructs the Overlords’ appearance to resemble the Devil’s. Indeed, it is proven in the later story that the Overlords overturned human’s trust and virtually converted the Earth into a living hell. The Overlords are purposely designed to look like Devils to draw parallel to their course of actions and humanity’s sad fate.
As reasonable as the bulk of the storyline develops, there are some major logical issues in Childhood’s End that cannot be overlooked by critics. The first and foremost one is that there is no legitimate explanation for the sudden breakout of the mystic powers that were exhibited among the children, from neither the author nor Karellen. All of a sudden, the power was widespread among the children as if it were an epidemic disease that had gone rampant. Also, the utopian society that Clarke depicted was not quite a utopia. By definition, utopia is an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. Although the advent of the Overlords creates a better world where every man is guaranteed of food and shelter; resources are abundant, and there’s no desire for theft, the argument is that the society is still not considered perfect as there are people, namely the artists, who are not satisfied with the declination of inspiration in the art industry. They later on create their own resort dedicated to the rekindling of art, the New Athens, which became ground zero for the breakout of the tragedy. Just as David Samuelson wrote in his review of Choldhood's End, "...utopia is unreachable; just as technology can not make everyone happy on Earth."
As illustrated above, Childhood’s End is an exciting sci-fi novel that contains a unique theme. Despite the occasional dubious logical issues that exist in the text, the novel itself tells rather an eye-catchy, breathtaking story that keeps readers reading non-stop. I would recommend this book to the sci-fi story lovers who are willing to experience something original and thought provoking.
Childhood’s End vividly illustrates a case of aliens who seemingly sided with mankind by supervising the development of human society and opening the gate to a golden age, who at the same time, paradoxically, directed mankind to proceed to the end of humanity and ultimately, the destruction of Earth. The storyline gives away the central idea (the thesis) that the author is expressing – as content as one might be about their current status, one should always seek for improvement. It is implied that being too content about one’s environment could possibly lead to a detrimental outcome. For instance, in the story, mankind gets used to letting the Overlords handle their affairs such that in the end, they are too laidback to actively find out a way to avoid the destruction of their own kind. Certainly, a doomed future is what a race that’s left behind receives. The same idea is expressed from the eyes of Karellen. At the end of the story, after Earth explodes, Karellen watches the last remnant of Earth vanishes in the Universe as he wonders the secrets of the Overminds who are superior to all races. Karellen, who witnesses numerous civilizations being ruthlessly eliminated from the history of the universe, is fully aware of the rule “survival of the fittest”. The author suggests that Karellen, as well as the race of the Overlord, is eager to discover the secrets of the Overminds. And one day, the Overlords might be able to find a way to advance into a higher form of beings to release themselves from the Overminds.
I like the way the author pays attention to the details. For example, one of the ironies implied in the book is that the Overlords, who are initially considered the mankind’s saviors, look almost exactly like the Devil. “The leathery wings, the little horns, the barbed tail – all were there. The most terrible of all legends had come to life, out of the unknown past.” There’s no accident that Clarke constructs the Overlords’ appearance to resemble the Devil’s. Indeed, it is proven in the later story that the Overlords overturned human’s trust and virtually converted the Earth into a living hell. The Overlords are purposely designed to look like Devils to draw parallel to their course of actions and humanity’s sad fate.
As reasonable as the bulk of the storyline develops, there are some major logical issues in Childhood’s End that cannot be overlooked by critics. The first and foremost one is that there is no legitimate explanation for the sudden breakout of the mystic powers that were exhibited among the children, from neither the author nor Karellen. All of a sudden, the power was widespread among the children as if it were an epidemic disease that had gone rampant. Also, the utopian society that Clarke depicted was not quite a utopia. By definition, utopia is an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. Although the advent of the Overlords creates a better world where every man is guaranteed of food and shelter; resources are abundant, and there’s no desire for theft, the argument is that the society is still not considered perfect as there are people, namely the artists, who are not satisfied with the declination of inspiration in the art industry. They later on create their own resort dedicated to the rekindling of art, the New Athens, which became ground zero for the breakout of the tragedy. Just as David Samuelson wrote in his review of Choldhood's End, "...utopia is unreachable; just as technology can not make everyone happy on Earth."
As illustrated above, Childhood’s End is an exciting sci-fi novel that contains a unique theme. Despite the occasional dubious logical issues that exist in the text, the novel itself tells rather an eye-catchy, breathtaking story that keeps readers reading non-stop. I would recommend this book to the sci-fi story lovers who are willing to experience something original and thought provoking.
