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Theodore “Theo” Faron
Theo’s cousin and the self-appointed Warden of England, Xan is a dictatorial man whose childhood tendencies toward “obsessive self-sufficiency” have made him into a cruel, thoughtless leader. Snakelike, shadowy, and incapable of true intimacy or friendship with anyone, Xan rules Britain with the support of his sycophantic Council. He wears an enormously valuable ring—the Coronation Ring, “the wedding ring of England,” on his finger as a symbol of his unquestioned power. Xan is both vain and shifty, self-obsessed and seemingly without a true inner self to speak of. When he finally learns of Julian’s pregnancy, he and the Council hunt her and Theo to their safehouse. Xan plans to marry Julian (whom Theo has come to love), because he knows that by marrying the first woman to give birth in years he will cement his power. At the same time, Xan also describes a plan to perhaps “breed” Julian with her own son in order to create new life on Earth. In the ensuing confrontation, Theo shoots and kills Xan. While Xan is the singular villain of the novel, when Theo puts on the Coronation Ring after killing Xan, it suggests that Xan is also not particularly special, in the sense that his lust for power is something shared by all people, and so that once he falls someone else will just take his role.
Xan Lyppiatt Quotes in The Children of Men
The The Children of Men quotes below are all either spoken by Xan Lyppiatt or refer to Xan Lyppiatt. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
I know now, of course, why [Xan] liked having me at Woolcombe. I think I guessed almost from the beginning. He had absolutely no commitment to me, no responsibility for me, not even the commitment of friendship or the responsibility of personal choice. He hadn’t chosen me. I was his cousin, I was wished on him, I was there. I lifted from him, an only child, the burden of parental concern. From his boyhood he couldn’t tolerate questions, curiosity, interference in his life. I sympathized with that; I was very much the same.
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Chapter 33
Quotes
Carl looked down at the child with his dying eyes. “So it begins again.”
Theo thought: It begins again, with jealousy, with treachery, with violence, with murder, with this ring on my finger. He looked down at the great sapphire in its glitter of diamonds, aware of its weight. Placing it on his hand had been a gesture to assert authority and ensure protection. For a time at least he must take Xan’s place. There were evils to be remedied; but they must take their turn. He couldn’t do everything at once, there had to be priorities. Was that what Xan had found? And was this sudden intoxication of power what Xan had known every day of his life?
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Julian looked up at him. For the first time she noticed the ring. She said: “That wasn’t made for your finger.”
For a second, no more, he felt something close to irritation. It must be for him to decide when he would take it off. He said: “It’s useful for the present. I shall take it off in time.”
She seemed for the moment content, and it might have been his imagination that there was a shadow in her eyes.
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Xan Lyppiatt Quotes in The Children of Men
The The Children of Men quotes below are all either spoken by Xan Lyppiatt or refer to Xan Lyppiatt. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
I know now, of course, why [Xan] liked having me at Woolcombe. I think I guessed almost from the beginning. He had absolutely no commitment to me, no responsibility for me, not even the commitment of friendship or the responsibility of personal choice. He hadn’t chosen me. I was his cousin, I was wished on him, I was there. I lifted from him, an only child, the burden of parental concern. From his boyhood he couldn’t tolerate questions, curiosity, interference in his life. I sympathized with that; I was very much the same.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 33
Quotes
Carl looked down at the child with his dying eyes. “So it begins again.”
Theo thought: It begins again, with jealousy, with treachery, with violence, with murder, with this ring on my finger. He looked down at the great sapphire in its glitter of diamonds, aware of its weight. Placing it on his hand had been a gesture to assert authority and ensure protection. For a time at least he must take Xan’s place. There were evils to be remedied; but they must take their turn. He couldn’t do everything at once, there had to be priorities. Was that what Xan had found? And was this sudden intoxication of power what Xan had known every day of his life?
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Page Number and Citation:
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Julian looked up at him. For the first time she noticed the ring. She said: “That wasn’t made for your finger.”
For a second, no more, he felt something close to irritation. It must be for him to decide when he would take it off. He said: “It’s useful for the present. I shall take it off in time.”
She seemed for the moment content, and it might have been his imagination that there was a shadow in her eyes.
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Page Number and Citation:
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