Last and First Men · Chapter
II: Da Capo explained
The chapter describes the fate of the Ninth Men, a dwarf species created by the Venerians to colonize Neptune, but which proved ill-adapted to the planet's harsh conditions and eventually devolved into subhuman forms.
What happens
The chapter describes the fate of the Ninth Men, a dwarf species created by the Venerians to colonize Neptune, but which proved ill-adapted to the planet's harsh conditions and eventually devolved into subhuman forms. Over hundreds of millions of years, these descendants evolved into a new species, the Tenth Men, who developed a new kind of hand and mind, marking a fresh start for humanity.
Themes in this chapter
Human Nature and Evolution
The chapter explores the theme of evolution and the potential for humanity to devolve and then re-evolve in a new form.
Suffering and Redemption
The Ninth Men suffer greatly due to their ill-adaptation, but their descendants eventually find a new path, suggesting a form of redemption.
Characters to notice
- The Ninth Men
The frail dwarf species created by the Venerians for Neptune, which fell into savagery and eventually devolved.
- The Venerians
The designers of the Ninth Men, who underestimated Neptune's ferocity and produced an ill-adapted species.
- The Tenth Men
The new species that evolved from the subhuman descendants of the Ninth Men, with a new hand and mind.
Key passages
“It was in desperate haste that the last Venerian men had designed and fashioned the new species for the colonization of Neptune.”
The Venerians rushed to create a new species for Neptune, but their haste led to poor design.
Highlights the theme of flawed creation and the consequences of haste.
“They should have planned a hardy brute, lustily procreative, cunning in the struggle for physical existence, but above all tough, prolific, and so insensitive as to be scarcely worthy of the name man.”
The Venerians should have created a more robust and less sensitive species, but instead made a fragile one.
Reflects on the importance of adaptation over civilization.
“Now in the fullness of time, about three hundred million terrestrial years after the solar collision, a certain minute, hairless, rabbit-like creature, scampering on the polar grasslands, found itself greatly persecuted by a swift hound from the south.”
After a long period, a small rabbit-like creature was hunted by a hound, leading to its evolution.
Describes the origin of the Tenth Men through natural selection.