# Second Childhood explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Clifford D. Simak.

## What happens

Andrew Young, an immortal who has lived for 5,786 years, petitions the immortality commission for the right to die, arguing that his endless life has become a burden of loneliness, boredom, and lost meaning. He recounts how his friends have all died through reckless accidents, and he himself longs for the innocence and wonder of childhood that he can never recapture.

## Themes in this chapter

### Immortality and Its Burden

Andrew Young's petition directly confronts the crushing weight of endless life, the loss of friends, and the erosion of meaning over millennia.

### Loneliness and Isolation

Young describes himself as a lonely man with no friends, alienated even from his vast family, underscoring the isolation that comes with extreme longevity.

## Character check-ins

### Andrew Young

Petitions the immortality commission for permission to die, expressing profound weariness and loneliness after nearly six thousand years of life.

### John Riggs

Chairman of the immortality commission, he argues against legalizing death and insists on the necessity of genuine immortality.

### Commissioner Stanford

A commissioner who acknowledges the difficulty of Young's case but is reluctant to lose him, reflecting the commission's stance.

## Key lines

> God, how tired a man can get of living!

Andrew Young expresses his profound exhaustion with eternal life.

_Captures the central theme of the chapter: the unbearable weariness of immortality._

> I am a lonely man and tired. I have no friends. There is nothing any longer that holds my interest.

Young states that his loneliness and lack of purpose drive his desire for death.

_Highlights the personal and emotional core of his petition._

> Once, I had it in my very fingers and I did not have the experience to know what it was, nor the value of it.

Young recalls the lost wonder of childhood, which he now understands but can never regain.

_Illustrates the theme of lost innocence and the tragedy of endless memory._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_10_se/chapters/second-childhood
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_10_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_10_se/chapters