The Overlords: Noble Souls

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The Overlords: Noble Souls

Childhood's End is one of the best early examples of apocalyptic science fiction. It is the story of Earth's invasion by a supervisory alien race, the 'Golden Age' of life under the Overlords, followed by the mutation of all human offspring into bodiless parts of a hive mind. The final phase of the mutation causes a chain reaction that destroys the Earth. Childhood’s End is a colonial parable, deftly engineered to make the reader identify with the colonial administrators, the Overlords, and their self-sacrificing mission to better humanity.
Wikipedia defines sympathetic characters as fictional characters in a story with which the writer expects the reader to identify with and care about, if not necessarily admire (Black). Sympathetic Characters come from all backgrounds. They can be outsiders, rule breakers, vulnerable, driven, picked on, ect. The criteria needed to develop characters an audience can relate to requires human attributes such as humor, admiration, kindness, misfortunes and /or handicaps that hold them back. Having these characters maintain a secret, or hide true feelings also make for great sympathetic characters. This strategy makes the characters appear more primitive, especially when they finally get to reveal their secret. Whenever characters are hiding something, suspense and tension are created; It immediately raises the question of when will they get found out. Allowing the audience to get suspicious, all adds to the reader’s investment in the characters. Through the use of these techniques and human attributes, Arthur C. Clark is able to portray the Overlords as sympathetic characters, primarily beheld through Karellen, their head supervisor on Earth.
Throughout the book Clark...

... middle of paper ...

...s with Karellen watching the departure of the new humanity from the Overlords’ orbiting craft. The children that remained on Earth to continue the transformation have horrific faces, unkempt persons and incomprehensible behavior. This is an image to be feared not admired. And finally, after 150 years, Karellen--not a God but a dedicated, patient servant-- can turn his attention to his next assignment.

Works Cited

Black, Jason. "Sympathetic character." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Clarke, Arthur C.. Childhood's end. New York: Ballantine Books, 1953. Print.
Goldman, Stephen H. “Immortal Man and Mortal Overlord: The Case for Intertexuality.”
Death and the Serpent: Immortalilty in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Eds. Carl B Yoke and Donald M. Hassler. Westport: Greenwood, 10985. 193-208

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