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On the one hand, it is ironic that the Overlords look like devils, since they effectively take up the role of guardian angels—they step in to stop humanity from destroying itself with nuclear weapons or latent psychic abilities, and they miraculously intervene to rescue Jeffrey from the tsunami.
When the Overlords finally reveal their appearance, they resemble the traditional Christian folk images of demons, with cloven hooves, leathery wings, horns, and barbed tails. Humankind enters a golden age of prosperity at the expense of creativity.
The original concept behind the Overlords, in the short story, was not that they were shepherds for the human race. The point of "Guardian Angel" was simply the irony of having these beneficial aliens turn out to look exactly like our conception of the devil.
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Analysis
Jan Rodricks is returning home to Earth, eighty years after he left. When he had first snuck out of his hiding place on the Overlord ship, the Overlords had not been particularly interested in him. Once arriving on the Overlord homeworld, he was locked in a room for several days until Vindarten, an Overlord who could speak English, took responsibil...
Karellen explains what happened after the great announcement that humanity was coming to an end. He shows Jan videos of the children as they developed their powers. For some time, they limp about like savages until they begin to develop vast mental powers. At the same time, their faces become blank, as their individuality is eaten away. Slowly they...
Jan awakes one early morning and looks at the moon. To his surprise, it has started rotating—the children are testing their power. Soon, the Overlords tell him, the Overmind will arrive and assimilate the children into itself. The Overlords must leave, but Jan chooses to stay. Karellen asks Jan to record the transmogrification of the children as th...
Jan's trip to the Overlord homeworld has a very interesting literary parallel, although it does not occur to Jan and may or may not have been in the mind of Arthur C. Clarke. It is significant that the world Jan visits is not the Overlords' homeworld; it is a world that they have colonized and made into their base of operations. So, their situation...
While the main concepts of Childhood's End revolve around the irony of the Overlords as benevolent masters that look like "devils" and the division between technological and evolutionary achievement, the book also deals heavily with the possible problems of a utopian society.
“The Golden Age” begins with that revelation: The Overlords look like devils. Karellen initially invites two children into his ship and emerges with one on either arm. When viewed closely, the Overlords appear less humanoid than devils are typically portrayed, but they seem to be the inspiration for the legends of devils and demons in ...
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The Overlords fit the description of the devils and demons of myth perfectly. They aren't supernatural creatures, though—instead, their existence can be accounted for by completely natural processes, such as evolution.
