51 pages • 1 hour read
Arthur C. ClarkeChildhood's End
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1953A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Devils and Hell
When Karellen reveals his appearance to mankind, the initial reaction is a primal sense of horror. The Overlords have the appearance of devils, humanity’s nearly universal symbol of evil. When Jan visits the Overlords’ home planet, he sees “the ruby light […] flooding into the ship” (191). Since the Overlords can fly, their buildings take the form of high towers. When Jan looks around outside, he sees the towers and the flying Overlords bathed in the red light of their sun—a description directly reminiscent of Hell. Jan also notably manages to get to the Overlord planet in the belly of a whale, like Jonah. In the biblical story, Jonah is swallowed by a whale because he refuses to preach to the wicked at Nineveh, but he then repents and brings the word of God to the wicked. In the novel, Jan similarly brings the human perspective to the Overlords.
The symbolism of devils and Hell illustrates The Relationship Between Science and Mysticism. What humans have regarded throughout history as a supernatural evil turns out to be part of the natural universe that they did not yet understand.
Rain in the Ocean
The motif of rain in the ocean is specifically mentioned twice in the novel. The first time is when Jan ventures to the bottom of the ocean:
Whatever irregularities they might once have possessed had long ago been obliterated by the ceaseless rain from the watery heights above. Even here in mid Pacific, far from the great estuaries that slowly swept the continents out to sea, that rain never ceased. It came from the storm-scarred flanks of the Andes, from the bodies of a billion living creatures, from the dust of meteors that had wandered through space for ages and had come at last to rest. Here in the eternal night, it was laying the foundations of the lands to be (117-18).
Here the rain is both a creative and a destructive force, one that eliminates differences from the landscape of the ocean floor. The rain contains elements of mountains, animals, and even outer space. The rain represents the interconnectedness of all things—nature’s equivalent of the Overmind. The immense power to transform the landscape of the ocean floor removes distinction, removes individuality. However, in place of that individuality is the future’s foundation. The narration in the first discussion of rain in the ocean suggests that the equalizing power of the Overmind is neither positive nor negative, but neutral.
The second reference to rain in the ocean is when the children board the Overlords’ ship:
Lonely? Why had he thought that, wondered George. For that was the one thing they could never be again. Only individuals can be lonely—only human beings. When the barriers were down at last, loneliness would vanish as personality faded. The countless raindrops would have merged into the ocean (186).
George also equates the equalizing effect of the Overmind to rain in the ocean. The raindrops are a metaphor for the children, containing all the elements of existence yet becoming more and more indistinguishable from one another. The culmination of the Overmind’s transformation is an end to loneliness in this example, and although George doesn’t view this as a positive, the motif encourages an interpretation that is both sad and hopeful.
Fey
Fey is the Greggson family dog. She adores Jeff, and during his transformation she slowly loses her master and best friend. Fey is a symbol of humanity in the process of losing their own masters—both the master of the future, represented by the children, and the presence and guidance of the Overlords. In several places, humanity is compared to a treasured family pet in relation to the Overlords. The first comparison is Stormgren’s: “It was the final proof, Stormgren knew, of Karellen’s affection for him. Thought it might be the affection of a man for a devoted and intelligent dog, it was none the less sincere for that” (64). Stormgren sees the kind of affection available to humanity from the Overlords as that of a master to his pet—inherently unequal, but still genuine.
The first mention of Fey is in the description of the Greggsons’ move to the island: “Fey, the beautiful golden retriever […] could seldom be detached from Jeffrey. The two were inseparable, both by day and—and if Jean had not put her foot down—by night” (149). Fey and Jeff have a shared affection, though where she can go is determined both by Jeff and by his mother. Like humans, her movement is limited by the edicts of those above her. When Jeff begins to change, “Fey would sit watching, looking up at him with tragic, puzzled eyes, wondering where her master had gone and when he would return to her” (179). Here again, the dog’s relationship to her human masters mirrors the relationship of the humans to the Overlords. In the same way that Fey wonders where Jeff has gone, the humans are beginning to wonder where their children are going, and looking longingly to Karellen and the Overlords above them.
Finally, when Jeff’s transformation has advanced, and he boards the Overlord ship to leave, “Fey lifted up her muzzle and gave a low, desolate moan. She turned her beautiful, limpid eyes toward George, and he knew that she had lost her master” (187). George and Fey share the loss of Jeff, and just as Fey moans to the sky, humanity moans at the loss of their future. When Karellen gives his last speech, he says, “It would be simplest, and perhaps most merciful, to destroy you—as you yourselves would destroy a mortally wounded pet you loved” (185). Karellen himself compares humanity to a beloved pet, just as Fey is, and acknowledges the power of the master to destroy the pet out of love.
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By Arthur C. Clarke
