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The following is a critical paper I wrote for an Introduction to Literature class. I wrote the paper about Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. The topic of the paper involves the many allusions to religion Clarke makes in the story. I would strongly recommend Childhood's End to anyone who enjoys science fiction.
In the introduction, Arthur C. Clarke describes the theme of the Childhood's End as being based on the evidence of the paranormal. Clarke seems to have a scientifically based belief in the paranormal, based on evidence, at the time of writing this book, but he has very little belief in religion. Since then, Clarke has become much more skeptical about the unexplained. He says, "Today I would like to change the target of that disclaimer to cover 99 percent of the 'paranormal', (it can't all be nonsense) and 100 percent of UFO 'encounters'."
I believe there is a relationship between Clarke's theme and his various allusions to religion in Childhood's End. Clarke tries to create a distinction between the paranormal and the religious. Neither paranormal events nor religious beliefs can be explained by science. Childhood's End implies, however, that humans create religion, while paranormal and unexplained events are the result of forces we do not yet understand. Further, Clarke seems to imply there is a battle between religion and science in our society. He says science and reasoning can destroy religions, or at least ignore them.
Clarke wastes no time in creating a religious controversy concerning the Overlords. Shortly into the story, there is a meeting between Wainwright, leader of the Freedom League, and Stromgren, the Secretary General to the United Nations. Stromgren wants the human race to have faith in the Overlords and follow their lead. Wainwright, on the other hand, wants to allow humans to have liberty and freedom to develop on their own, without any outside intervention, except of course, "God's guidance" (p. 16).
Clarke attempts to make it seem otherwise, but the overall aims and beliefs of the Freedom League do not constitute it as a religious organization. I believe the only truly religious aspect of the Freedom League is that its leader was once a priest. Wainwright and the Freedom League simply do not appreciate Karellen interfering with the development of the human race. One certainly does not need to attend church regularly to have that belief. The biggest complaint the Freedom League has about Karellen is his hidden identity. Once again, this is a situation that almost everyone, not just religious people, would have problems accepting. Despite this, Stromgren is the first character to declare, "Basically the conflict is a religious one, however much it may be disguised (p. 16)."
Despite his differences, Stromgren brings the concerns of the Freedom League to the Overlord. Karellen's response is, "You will find men like him in all the world's religions. They know that we represent reason and science, and however confident they may be in their beliefs, they fear that we will overthrow their gods (p. 23)." This is a typical scientific response to religion. Karellen is right when he says they may be afraid their beliefs will be disproved, but people are still curious about the origins of their faiths. Religious scholars have always craved for scientific answers concerning the origins of their beliefs, and many have undergone great expeditions to satisfy this curiosity. Indeed, many scholars would welcome Karellen's opinion on their religions, but I doubt even his highly intelligent and reasoning mind could sway the faith of a firm religious believer. At the end of Book I, Stromgren asks himself, "Even in fifty years, could you overcome the power of all the myths and legends of the world (p. 64)?" I strongly doubt it.
Nevertheless, the world's scholars do get a chance to study their faiths with Karellen's tools in Book II. As a result, all the ancient faiths died out, except for a form of purified Buddhism. This religious demise was caused by human curiosity, just as Karellen predicted. The Overlords loaned the World History Federation a device to see back in time. According to Clarke, "Here seen by some unknown magic of Overlord science were the true beginnings of all the world's great faiths (p. 74)." I find it difficult to believe the world's religious leaders would willingly accept this "unknown magic of Overlord science", and forget thousands of years of faith and tradition.
At the beginning of Book II, Karellen finally gives the Freedom League what it most desired, although by this time the League had lost most of its power and popularity. After fifty years, Karellen is finally going to reveal his identity to the human race. Before stepping out of his spacecraft, however, the Overlord calls for two children to come up on the ship to join him. Then Karellen walks out of the ship with one child on each arm. Karellen's motives for making his appearance in this way are not discussed, but perhaps Karellen just thought the Overlords would look less threatening with a happy child on each shoulder.
Mark 10:14-16 says, "When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them (his disciples), 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them."
Although the two stories share many similarities, their purposes are far different. Jesus was rebuking his disciples, because they thought Jesus was too important and busy to deal with mere children. Karellen's intention was to lower the shock and revulsion that humans would have when faced with what they perceive as the devil standing before them. Surely Karellen knew of the Bible story, since he made references to Jonah later in the book. Perhaps he even took the Bible story into consideration when planning his grand entrance. Jesus was a great leader, and he is well respected by people of many faiths. It would ease the tension and reduce the shock to see a familiar and well loved scene reenacted by the Overlords.
Though Karellen and Jesus had different intentions, Jesus' words can be applied to Childhood's End. The humans who rose to the next level of human existence in this story were quite literally children. Clarke may have anticipated that readers would relate Karellen's entrance to this scripture, and so he foreshadowed the future events of the story.
Clarke moves on to describe the Golden Age and its lack of religion at the beginning of Book II. After this, however, he makes very few direct religious references. One small reference leaves some unanswered questions, though. In addition to religion, Clarke describes a loss of art and human culture in the Golden Age. A Jewish man, Salomon, decides to start a colony to prevent this decline and renew some of the pride humanity once had in its accomplishments. I find it odd that Salomon, with his religious heritage, makes no attempt to include the renewal of ancient and proud religious traditions in his colony's blueprints.
The remainder of the book deals with the transition of the human race to a new and more powerful state. This transition is beyond the comprehension of even the Overlords and their vast scientific knowledge of the Universe. The transition is a paranormal event, unexplained by any scientific reasoning. To my knowledge, however, this transition does not follow any religious prediction of the earth's final day. It is just the ultimate paranormal event, and the Overlords crave to know more about it.
After all his attempts to destroy and disprove religion in Childhood's End, I believe Clarke ends up making a strong argument for religion. He reveals that a stronger power does exist in the Universe, as religious people have believed for centuries. There is an all-powerful and all-knowing being, which binds all the intelligent, spiritual species together in Childhood's End. I agree with C.S. Lewis when he says of Clarke, "…here we meet a modern author who understands that there may be things that have a higher claim on humanity than its own survival.'" Unfortunately, Clarke never truly describes what he believes that "thing" to be.
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