The Children of Men

2025-09-26T03:09:32Z

2603:7000:BDF0:2200:BC55:2935:B11F:C8E3: Forever had a space between “for” and “ever”. I got rid of the space.

{{short description|1992 dystopian novel by P. D. James}}
{{For|the 2006 film adaptation of the novel|Children of Men}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox book|
| name = The Children of Men
| image = Image:Children-of-Men-bookcover.jpg
| caption = First UK edition
| author = [[P. D. James]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist = {{ill|Irene von Treskow|de|Irene von Treskow-Ahrens}}
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| genre = [[Dystopian novel|Dystopian]]
| publisher = [[Faber and Faber]] (UK)<br>[[Alfred A. Knopf]] (US)
| release_date = 1992
| media_type = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages = 241
| isbn = 9780679418733
| dewey = 823/.914 20
| congress = PR6060.A467 C48 1993
| oclc = 26214321
}}

'''''The Children of Men''''' is a [[dystopia]]n novel by English writer [[P. D. James]], published in 1992. Set in [[England]] in 2021, it centres on the results of [[Human extinction|mass infertility]]. James describes a [[United Kingdom]] that is steadily depopulating and focuses on a small group of resisters who do not share the disillusionment of the masses.

The book received very positive reviews from many critics such as Caryn James of ''[[The New York Times]]'', who called it "wonderfully rich" and "a trenchant analysis of politics and power that speaks urgently".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/movies/28men.html|title=Children of Differing Visions: Contrasting a P. D. James Novel and the Movie It Inspired|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Caryn|last=James|date=28 December 2006|accessdate=19 July 2010}}</ref> The academic [[Alan Jacobs (academic)|Alan Jacobs]] said, "Of all James' novels, ''The Children of Men'' is probably the most pointed in its social criticism, certainly the deepest in its [[Theology|theological]] reflection."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jacobs|first1=Alan|title=Life's Value|url=https://firstthings.com/lifes-value/|website=firstthings.com|date=August 1993 |publisher=First Things|accessdate=27 August 2025}}</ref>

About writing the story [[P. D. James]] said, "I thought, if there was no future, how would we behave?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/home/james-children.html?module=inline|title=O Brave New World, That Has No People In't!|date=28 March 1993| work=The New York Times|first=Walter |last=Wangerin Jr.|accessdate=12 January 2024}}</ref>

==Plot==

=== Book One: Omega ===

This part alternates between [[first-person narrative]] in a diary of Dr. Theodore "Theo" Faron, an [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] [[University don|don]], and the [[third-person narrative|third person]], still tightly focused on Theo.

It is January 2021, but the novel's events have their origin in 1995, "Year [[Omega]]". All human sperm, even frozen, "had lost its potency" and, with no scientific breakthroughs, mankind is preparing for extinction. People born in 1995 are called Omegas. "A race apart", they enjoy various [[prerogative]]s. The Omegas are beautiful (for females) and handsome (males), but spoiled, over-entitled, and egotistical because of their youth and luxurious lifestyle. They are violent, remote, and unstable. They regard elders with undisguised contempt, yet they are spared punishment due to their age. According to rumours, some countries sacrifice Omegas in fertility rituals. The last Omega ever born had just been killed in a pub brawl.

In 2006, Xan Lyppiatt, Theo's rich and charismatic cousin, appointed himself Warden of England in the last [[elections in the United Kingdom|general election]]. As people have lost all interest in politics, Lyppiatt abolishes democracy. He is called a [[despotism|despot]] and [[tyrant]] by his opponents, but the new society is officially referred to as [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]].

Theo is approached by his ex-student, a woman named Julian, a member of a [[dissident]] group calling themselves the Five Fishes. Rolf, their leader and Julian's husband, is hostile; the others — Miriam (a former [[midwife]]), Gascoigne (a man from a military family), Luke (a [[priest]]), and Julian (the only other Christian of the five) — are more personable. They want Theo to approach Xan and ask for various reforms, including a return to a more democratic system. During their discussions, as Theo prepares to meet with Xan, the reader learns about the situation in the UK:

* Newborn animals (such as kittens and puppies) are doted upon and treated as infants, pushed in prams, and dressed in children's clothing. The latest trend is to have elaborate christening ceremonies for newborn pets. Many women are also obsessed with life-like dolls.
* The country is [[rule by decree|governed by decree]] of the five-member Council of England. [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] has been reduced to an advisory role. The aims of the council are (1) protection and security, (2) comfort, and (3) pleasure, corresponding to the Warden's promises of: (1) freedom from fear, (2) freedom from want, and (3) freedom from boredom.
* The [[Grenadier Guards|Grenadiers]], formerly an elite regiment in the [[British Armed Forces]], are the Warden's private army. The State Secret Police (SSP) ensures the council's decrees are executed.
* The courts still exist, but people don't want to serve in a [[jury]] anymore. "Under the new arrangements", defendants are tried by a judge and two magistrates. Convicted criminals are dumped at a penal colony on the [[Isle of Man]]. There is no [[wikt: remission|remission]], escape is almost impossible, even correspondence is forbidden. Instead of deportees growing their own food, the island is ruled by violent gangs. There is hunger and cannibalism.
* Every citizen is required to learn skills such as [[animal husbandry]], which they might need if they happen to be among the last humans alive.
* [[Foreign workers]] are lured into the country and exploited. Young people, preferably Omegas, from poorer countries come to England "to do our dirty work". These "Sojourners" are sent back at age 60 ("forcibly repatriated"). British Omegas are not allowed to [[emigrate]] to prevent loss of labour.
* Elderly/infirm citizens have become a burden; [[nursing homes]] are for the privileged few. The rest are expected and sometimes [[Forced suicide|forced to commit suicide]] by taking part in a "Quietus" (Council-sanctioned mass drowning).
* The state has opened "[[pornography]] centers". Twice a year, healthy women under 45 must submit to a [[Gynecology|gynecological]] examination, and most men must also have their [[sperm]] tested, to keep hope alive.

{{Conservatism UK}}
Theo's meeting, which turns out to be with the full Council of England, does not go well. Some members resent him because he resigned as Xan's advisor rather than share the responsibility of governing. Xan realises that Theo's suggestions came from others and makes clear that he will take action against dissidents if they are not "sensible".

In March, the Five Fishes distribute a leaflet detailing their demands, and the SSP visit Theo to drop hints. Meeting Julian by chance, he warns her that the SSP are getting close and the group needs to stop, and if the others won't, she should get out herself. She says "It’s better that we don’t see each other again"; he replies "If you ever need me send for me." That night Theo decides to leave England for the summer and visit the continent before nature overruns it and the society breaks down.

=== Book Two: Alpha ===

Soon after Theo's return, in October, Miriam comes to tell him that Gascoigne was arrested, trying to blow up a Quietus embarkation stage. The other Fishes need to go on the run before the investigators break him with drugs, and Julian wants Theo. Miriam reveals why Julian did not come herself: she is pregnant. Theo believes Julian is deceiving herself, but she lets him listen to her baby's heartbeat.

During the group's flight, Luke is killed protecting Julian in a confrontation with a wild gang of Omegas. Julian confesses that he and not Rolf was the child's father. Rolf, who believes he should rule the UK in Xan's place and provide his sperm to select fittest women, is angered at the discovery; he abandons the group to notify Xan.

The group arrives in a shack Theo knows of. Miriam delivers Julian's baby: a boy, not a girl as Julian had thought. Miriam goes to get more supplies; after she is gone too long, Theo finds her [[garrot]]ted in a nearby house. Theo returns to Julian and soon she hears a noise: Xan, coming alone though backed by his forces.

The cousins speak outside. Xan mentions that both Rolf and Gascoigne are dead, and Theo refuses to become his lieutenant, though the only alternative is to be killed too. Both reach for their guns: the baby's sudden wailing startles Xan, causing him to miss, as Rolf had thought the baby would not be born for another month, while Theo, who was actually a better shot when they trained as youths, kills Xan. He takes from Xan's finger the [[Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom#Rings|Coronation Ring]], which Xan had worn as a symbol of authority, and seems poised to become the new leader of the UK, at least temporarily, though promising he would stay with Julian forever. The other Council members are shown the boy and are overcome by emotion. Julian asks Theo to [[baptize]] him.

==Adaptation==
{{main|Children of Men}}
In 2006, a film adaptation by Mexican director [[Alfonso Cuarón]] and starring [[Julianne Moore]] and [[Clive Owen]] was released. Cuarón used the premise as a jumping-off point to address contemporary issues such as the treatment of refugees.<ref name="iwgblog" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Jeffrey |title=Recording of Interview with Alfonso Cuarón |url=http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/images/column/112406/cuaron2.mp3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010045215/http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/images/column/112406/cuaron2.mp3 |archive-date=10 October 2007 |access-date=19 July 2022 |website=Hollywood Elsewhere |at=21:47 |format=MP3}}</ref> The film was well received. According to Cuarón, P. D. James said in a statement to [[Universal Pictures]] that she was proud to be associated with it despite its differences from the source material.<ref name="iwgblog">{{cite web |last=Szymanski |first=Mike |date=20 December 2006 |title=Director Alfonso Cuarón and the cast of Children of Men discuss politics, the future and Michael Caine's flatulence |url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw14281.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225205102/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw14281.html |archive-date=25 February 2009 |website=Sci Fi Weekly }}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Critical reception==
On 5 November 2019 [[BBC News]] included ''The Children of Men'' on the [[BBC list of 100 'most inspiring' novels]].<ref name=Bbc2019-11-05/>

Critics praised the "powerful imagining" and world building of the scenario of human infertility.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hunter Murray |first=Andrew |date=12 April 2023 |title=The Children of Men by PD James review – forget the crime novels, this is her masterpiece |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/rereading-the-children-of-men-by-pd-james-review-lw5lfp9wb|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Taylor |first=Paul |date=27 September 1992 |title=BOOK REVIEW / The last generation game: 'The Children of Men' – P D James: Faber, 14.99 pounds |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/book-review-the-last-generation-game-the-children-of-men-p-d-james-faber-14-99-pounds-1554073.html |work=The Independent |accessdate=12 January 2024}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Novels}}
* [[Pregnancy in science fiction]]
* ''[[Greybeard]]'' (1964) by [[Brian Aldiss]], a science fiction novel where humanity had been sterilised by a weapon test in 1981 and is dying out in 2029
* ''[[The White Plague]]'' (1982) by [[Frank Herbert]], a science fiction novel where bio-terrorism kills all women in three countries and threatens the rest of Earth
* ''[[The Handmaid's Tale]]'' (1985), a dystopia by [[Margaret Atwood]] where women's fertility was drastically reduced by pollution

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Bbc2019-11-05>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50302788
| title = 100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts
| publisher = BBC News
| date = 2019-11-05
| accessdate = 2019-11-10
}}
</ref>
}}

== External links ==
* {{Wikiquote-inline|The Children of Men|''The Children of Men''}}

{{P. D. James}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Children of Men, The}}
[[Category:1992 British novels]]
[[Category:1992 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Alfred A. Knopf books]]
[[Category:British novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:British post-apocalyptic novels]]
[[Category:British science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Christian science fiction]]
[[Category:Christian novels]]
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:Faber & Faber books]]
[[Category:Fiction about government]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2021]]
[[Category:Novels by P. D. James]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 2020s]]
[[Category:Science fiction novels adapted into films]]

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The Children of Men