Childhood's End

“This was the moment when history held its breath, and the present sheared asunder from the past as an iceberg splits from its parent cliffs, and goes sailing out to sea in lonely pride. All that the past ages had achieved was as nothing now; only one thought echoed and re-echoed through Mohan’s brain: The human race was no longer alone.”

Present in both versions of the first chapter, this passage contextualizes the enormity of the arrival of the Overlords. The language foreshadows the massive change that the Overlords represent for humanity. The metaphorical “parent cliffs” point to The Tragedy of Parenthood theme, which culminates at the end of the novel.

“Earth still possessed democracies, monarchies, benevolent dictatorships, communism, and capitalism. This was a source of great surprise to many simple souls who were quite convinced that theirs was the only possible way of life. Others believed that Karellen was merely waiting to introduce a system which would sweep away all existing forms of society, and so had not bothered with minor political reforms.”

The nature of utopia in the novel is not reliant on a specific form of government. This is also a foreshadowing of the literal dissolving of all governments, economics, and social systems on which humanity relies. When humanity ceases to exist, so too do their systems, as they are unnecessary for the next advent of evolution.

“The invaders had brought peace and prosperity to Earth—but who knew what the cost might be? History was not reassuring; even the most peaceable of contacts between races at very different cultural levels had often resulted in the obliteration of the more backward society. Nations, as well as individuals, could lose their spirit when confronted by a challenge which they could not meet. And the civilization of the overlords, veiled in mystery though it might be, was the greatest challenge man had ever faced.”

This rhetorical question illuminates a major conflict explored in the text—The Cost of Utopia is not a violent conflict as history suggests. Instead, the Overlords represent the loss of struggle, which leads to the loss of inspiration, and eventually the literal end of the world. The placement of “peace and prosperity” in relation to “cost” directly connects the utopic vision of the world with the world’s eventual end.