Childhood’s End: Chapter 22 Summary & Analysis

Jan Rodricks, aboard another Overlord ship, is on his way back to Earth. He stands behind the three Overlord pilots watching their screens and thinks about how he now understands why the Overlords have prohibited humans from entering space. Humanity has a long way to develop before it can be a part of galactic civilization.

An Overlord named Vindarten had warned Jan that Earth might be unrecognizable by the time he returns, but Jan does not know what this means. In any case, the Overlords had been good to him. When he had emerged from hiding—discovering that he could breathe their air—and revealed himself, the Overlords did not seem at all bothered by it. They landed, and the pilots wordlessly stood up and left. As the door opened up, red light struck Jan and he saw the home of the Overlords for the first time.

All he could see was a broad plain, and Jan was disappointed. He had expected more, but soon realized that he was only on a moon. He soon boarded another smaller vessel and was taken to their true planet, reaching it within minutes.

Jan spent the first two days in the building they landed in, realizing quickly that none of the Overlords knew English and communication was “practically impossible.” However, Vindarten, who spoke bad English but quickly improved, arrived. Vindarten took Jan to meet many Overlord scientists who interviewed him and carried out numerous tests. Since Overlords do not sleep, it took Jan a great while to convince them that sleep was something his body required.

In between meetings, Jan caught short looks at the city he was in. Everything depended on flight, he realized, so there would be no way for him to get around. Most of what he saw he did not understand, but he quickly noticed that everything was utilitarian—no decorations, no art, nothing superfluous. The city was also not very large, though Vindarten explained that there were thousands of cities on the planet, each with a particular function. This city’s function was anthropological.

Vindarten eventually took Jan to see a museum, most of which confused him, but which also contained an exhibit of Earth, complete with yellow sunlight, rather than red. He met the curator and spent a number of hours speaking into a recorder while he was asked about all manner of earthly artifacts, most of which he did not recognize, to his own shame. Vindarten took him elsewhere to see the eye of a creature the size of an asteroid and Jan wondered at the possibilities of nature.

One time, he had been taken up to the highest point in the city and, turning around, he had spotted a mountain rising up from beyond the horizon. The mountain began to change, shifting hues and shapes, seeming not even to be made of matter. A massive ring rose out of the mountain, some sort of vortex that flew into the sky and passed overhead. Looking back, the mountain seemed as if it had stretched upward and was now spinning in place. When he tried to take a picture with his camera, Vindarten stopped him, the first and only time he had done so. Jan had a clue, for the first time, that “the Overlords had masters too.”

Jan is returning home. Though he had the opportunity to stay with the Overlords, Vindarten convinced him it was better to leave quickly and return to his native environment. Because of the relativity of time during space travel, Jan has aged only a few months, but 80 years have passed on Earth since his departure. His dream has been fulfilled.

As the ship nears Earth, Jan sees through the viewing screen that, though it looks the same, there are no lights from the cities and no signs of human activity. He is filled with fear. The ship lands, and as the door opens he sees Karellen, who announces that he has been waiting for Jan.