Last and First Men · Chapter
X: The Third Men in the Wilderness explained
This chapter describes the rise and nature of the Third Men, a new human species that emerged after the Second Men's long racial trance.
What happens
This chapter describes the rise and nature of the Third Men, a new human species that emerged after the Second Men's long racial trance. They are shorter, lithe, with golden eyes and large expressive ears, and have a short lifespan, often choosing suicide over decrepitude. Their culture is marked by a deep interest in music and a recurring obsession with biological control and sadism, leading to various cultural digressions, including industrial and musical civilizations. The chapter explores their religious and philosophical tendencies, particularly their worship of Life as a spirit and their complex attitudes toward pain and suffering.
Themes in this chapter
Human Nature and Evolution
The chapter details the biological and cultural evolution of the Third Men, focusing on their physical traits, lifespan, and mental capacities.
Suffering and Redemption
The Third Men's attitudes toward pain and sadism, and their religious worship of Life, reflect a complex engagement with suffering.
Spiritual and Philosophical Aspiration
The Third Men's mystical cravings and their conception of deity as a composite animal, along with their musical religions, show their spiritual pursuits.
Characters to notice
- The Third Men
The new human species described in detail, with their physical and mental traits, and their cultural tendencies.
- The Second Men
Predecessors of the Third Men, who remained in a racial trance for thirty million years before the Third Men emerged.
- The First Men
Earlier human species, referenced for comparison in terms of physical and mental characteristics.
Key passages
“We have now followed man’s career during some forty million years.”
We have traced human history for about forty million years.
Sets the temporal scope of the chapter.
“Their skin was of a sunny brown, covered with a luminous halo of red-gold hairs, which on the head became a russet mop.”
Their skin was brown with a glowing reddish-gold fuzz, and their hair was a reddish-brown mop.
Describes the physical appearance of the Third Men.
“They preferred to kill themselves when their mental and physical agility began to decline.”
They chose suicide rather than endure the decline of old age.
Highlights their abhorrence of decrepitude.
“Music was therefore one of the main preoccupations of the civilizations of this species.”
Music became a central focus of their cultures.
Emphasizes the importance of music to the Third Men.