The Children of Men

England is ruled by Theo’s cousin Xan Lyppiatt, who declared himself Warden after the last election. Three years ago, Theo was an observer at Xan’s five-member Council meetings, at “Xan’s invitation” (15).

Theo isn’t close with Xan, but has known him since they were 12. Xan is hard to get to know: He has always been generous and friendly with Theo, but hates to be touched and has trouble expressing sentimental emotions. Still, Theo admires Xan’s ability to be charming: “Charm is genuine; it may be superficial but it isn’t false” (15). Xan grew up very wealthy on the Woolcombe Estate; he was orphaned early in life. Theo spent his summers at Woolcombe with Xan, where they were usually unsupervised and so often took a car into town to look for girls, which led to Theo losing his virginity in a car park. Xan was the boys’ grandparents’ favorite. Theo remembers overhearing them talk about Xan’s brilliance, and how he would surpass Theo. 

Theo remembers a holiday at Woolcombe. He remembers his bedroom, next to Xan’s. He remembers Xan saying about his home, “Nothing is compulsory at Woolcombe, except unhappiness” (24). Still, even though Xan complained about the estate, Theo always knew how much Xan loved it. As he reminisces, Theo imagines the fate of cathedrals and other grand structures after humanity vanishes. However, no matter what he focuses on, he returns to thinking about the eventual decay of Woolcombe.

Theo’s mother died eight years earlier. He remembers her artistic abilities. She painted copies of Victorian prints, and her moments of artistic pleasure were always her happiest times. She would sell her work to antique shops and Theo would use the money to buy more prints for her paintings. Theo often wonders if her art steered him towards becoming a historian of the Victorian Era.

In 1983, when his father died of cancer, 12-year-old Theo developed a fear of being responsible for other people. On the day his father died, Theo realized, “There are ways of avoiding, without guilt, the commitments of love” (28). After the cremation, Theo remembers people telling him he was now the man of the house, but he did not want the responsibility. For 40 years he has felt the same; he does not want anyone to look to him for anything.

Theo remembers little about his father; he simply remembers him dying. Once, his father cut his hand, and his weakened immune system led to an infection that had to be heavily bandaged. Theo had recurring nightmares about his father with a stump. Theo concludes the chapter by writing cryptically that he had frequent visions of his dead father “After I killed Natalie” (32). He resents that he does not have a better memory of his father.

January 22 is Theo’s daughter’s Natalie’s birthday, but she died in 1994 when he accidentally ran over her while backing out of the driveway. She was only 15 months old. Theo’s wife Helena always thought he cared less for Natalie than she did, and he always believed she was correct, even though he did not understand why he did not love his daughter more intensely. In fact, he was jealous that Helena adored Natalie, while he felt mere affection for the baby. He hoped that, with enough time, he would have come to love her more. Helena left Theo for the artist Rupert Clavering the previous year. 

The narrative switches to third person. The UK government encourages everyone to undergo two weekly sessions of voluntary survival skills classes, in case utilities fail. For his classes, Theo spent time in the hospital to gain useful skills and access to drugs. His other skill session was on house maintenance.

On the fourth Wednesday in January, while walking to Magdalen Chapel, Theo sees a woman pushing a pram with a doll in it. People approach the woman and baby talk to the doll, which the woman enjoys. Suddenly, another woman grabs the doll and smashes it, leaving as the first woman screams. Theo continues to the chapel. Months earlier, Theo watched the chaplain chase a deer from the building, crying and asking why the animals couldn’t wait—they would soon inherit the earth.

Theo sees a woman he recognizes from one of his classes, where she criticized Isabel Archer during a lecture on Portrait of a Lady. As Theo sits in the chapel and examines his inner pain, he thinks: “Feel, he told himself, feel, feel, feel. Even if what you feel is pain, only let yourself feel” (44).

Outside, the woman introduces herself as Julian. She and her husband Rolf need Theo’s help: Rolf is the leader of an activist group, which wants to meet Theo since he was the former advisor to the Warden of England. Theo has no influence over Xan, but he agrees to meet with them the following Sunday.