Last and First Men · Chapter
II: Childhood and Maturity explained
The narrator describes the domestic and social life of the Last Men, focusing on their unique childhood and maturation process.
What happens
The narrator describes the domestic and social life of the Last Men, focusing on their unique childhood and maturation process. Children are born after a twenty-year gestation, cared for by their mothers for a century, then spend centuries in childhood and a thousand years of adolescence, much of it in the Land of the Young, a preserved wilderness where they live a primitive, tribal life. The chapter contrasts this with the adult world of philosophical maturity, and explains the community's policy of producing new individuals of higher type, leading to voluntary retirement of older adults. It also details the simplicity of adult homes, the use of telepathic books, and the rarity of children due to near-immortality.
Themes in this chapter
Immortality and Death
The chapter discusses the near-immortality of the Last Men, their policy of producing new individuals, and the voluntary retirement of older adults, highlighting the relationship between life, death, and progress.
Humanity and the Other
The chapter contrasts the nature of the Last Men with that of the First Men, emphasizing the differences in childhood, intellect, and social organization, and the unique perspective of the Last Men on their own species.
Characters to notice
- The Last Men
The narrator describes the customs and life cycle of the Last Men, including their extended childhood and adolescence, and their near-immortal adult state.
- The First Men
The narrator compares the children of the Last Men to those of the First Men, noting the vastly different developmental timeline and intellectual capabilities.
- The Fifth Men
The Land of the Young is described as reminiscent of the Wild Continent of the Fifth Men, a preserved wilderness for youthful adventure.
Key passages
“In the Land of the Young our boys and girls experience all that is precious and all that is abject in the primitive.”
In the Land of the Young, children undergo both the valuable and the miserable aspects of primitive life.
This highlights the educational purpose of the Land of the Young.
“It was expected that some day, when we should have perfected the species, there would be no need to build up successive generations, no need of children, no need of all this schooling.”
It was anticipated that once the species was perfected, there would be no need for successive generations, children, or education.
This reflects the goal of achieving a static, immortal society.
“Our mothers, indeed, are both physically and mentally most vigorous during the all too rare period of pregnancy.”
Our mothers are at their peak physical and mental strength during the rare times they are pregnant.
This emphasizes the unique biological state of Last Men mothers.