The Fate of Humanity Theme Analysis

In much of Clarke’s other writing, as well as the majority of science fiction written in his era, there is a humanistic optimism, a conviction that through science, technology, and determination, humanity can reach the stars. With the possibility of space travel approaching more rapidly than any dare dream (Clarke himself admitted to being blown away by how quickly the first humans landed on the moon) the possibilities seemed endless. Mankind would soon be pioneering new planets, and human progress would march onwards, unstoppable. Childhood’s End subverts that idea and poses an alternative outcome of the future. Through the character of the bold young scientist, Jan Rodricks, Clarke sets up the typical humanistic optimism and certainty that man is destined to live amongst the stars, and then flips it on its head. In its place, he leaves readers with a contemplative question: What if the inevitable future is not progress, but ruin? What if progress ends, and humanity discovers that “the stars are not for man”?

Jan functions as a symbol of the humanistic faith that science and technology will lead mankind to the future, to the stars. While most of humanity is content to simply live in the utopia that the Overlords have initiated—happy, if not a little bored—Jan maintains the spirit that seems to have been sapped from the masses, and is a prime example of a true scientist. He bravely defies the prohibition that the Overlords have put on human excursions into space, including their admonition that, “The stars are not for man.” Jan succeeds in his quest to venture into space, stowing away on an Overlord vessel and visiting their home world. He is the first and only human to see another planet and is tutored by an Overlord about their world and culture. As a human scientist, he has achieved the high ideals of “discovering” another world and meeting a new culture.

However, it does not take long for Jan to realize that the Overlords were right: the stars are not for man. He subverts the expectation of a scientist discovering a new world by essentially surrendering his ambitions, admitting that human progress perhaps has met its limit. Despite his optimism and ambition for knowledge and discovery, Rodricks is left with the conviction that the universe is too vast and overwhelmingly complex for humanity to participate in. There is no home for human beings amidst the solar systems and they would be better off remaining on their own insignificant planet and following fate where it may lead. He soon finds out that this means annihilation. Rather than fighting the coming destruction of Earth and the majority of its people, Jan recognizes it as an inevitability in the workings of the universe, the next step in the development of the human race through the transcendence of its children into the universal consciousness. Rather than leading the charge of human civilization into the stars, he makes peace with its end and becomes the final witness of its death.

Through the subversive character of Jan Rodricks, Clarke invites the reader to consider the possibility that the future will not meet current expectations, that progress will not march onward forever but perhaps be halted, and that the development of humanity will not follow a path that they would have wished for.

Clarke himself was optimistic about the future possibilities of science and space travel, saying, “I am an optimist. Anyone interested in the future has to be otherwise he would simply shoot himself.” And it should be noted that he clarifies in his preface to Childhood’s End that he certainly did believe humanity had a future to discover in space. Even so, in a story that needs a humanistic hero, a character to carry forth scientific progress and discovery, he deliberately sets up Jan Rodrick to fill the role and then turns him aside. The novel, this time around, suggests that perhaps it will not all work out so well in the end for humanity.