Last and First Men · Chapter
VII: The Rise of the Second Men explained
This chapter details the emergence and evolution of the Second Men, a new human species that arose millions of years after the Patagonian disaster.
What happens
This chapter details the emergence and evolution of the Second Men, a new human species that arose millions of years after the Patagonian disaster. It describes their physical and psychological characteristics, their development of a world-community, and their pursuit of a more perfect and long-lived form of humanity. The chapter also touches on their unique sexual morality, their telepathic aspirations, and the looming, incomprehensible threat from other life in the solar system.
Themes in this chapter
Human Nature and Evolution
The chapter is a detailed study of the biological and psychological evolution of a new human species, the Second Men, and their attempt to consciously remake themselves.
Society and Collective Identity
The chapter explores the Second Men's world-community, their social harmony, and their collective yearning for spiritual union and a shared mind.
The Limits of Knowledge
The Second Men are oppressed by the brevity of life and the distortion in every mind's apprehension of others, highlighting the limits of their understanding and the unattainable ideal of perfect union.
Characters to notice
- The Second Men
The central focus of the chapter, describing their physical form, temperament, and cultural development.
- The First Men
Referenced as the predecessors of the Second Men, whose history and limitations are contrasted with the new species.
- The Patagonians
Mentioned as the cause of the disaster that preceded the rise of the Second Men.
- The Martians
Mentioned as a different form of life in the solar system, pursuing ends incomprehensible to man.
- The Americans
Referenced as one of the ancient cultures whose errors the Second Men avoided in their industrial development.
Key passages
“It was time for man to take control of himself and remake himself upon a nobler pattern.”
The Second Men believed it was their responsibility to consciously direct their own evolution towards a more ideal form.
This captures the central ambition of the Second Men's civilization.
“But elsewhere in the solar system life of a very different kind was seeking, in its own strange manner, ends incomprehensible to man, yet at bottom identical with his own ends.”
While the Second Men worked on their own development, other life forms in the solar system were pursuing similar goals of advancement, but in ways that were alien and mysterious to humanity.
This foreshadows a potential conflict or encounter with the Martians.
“The will to avoid industrial evils was effective, because sincere.”
The Second Men successfully avoided the social and environmental problems of industrialism because their collective will to do so was genuine and heartfelt.
This highlights a key difference between the Second Men and earlier human societies.