The Children of Men

Julian gives birth to a baby boy in a shed, completing the analogy to the Christian story of Mary and Jesus, who was born in a barn. At first, the birth has a quasi-mystical effect on Theo: “This is our place, our moment of time, and, whatever they do to us, it can never be taken away” (272). However, the practicalities of politics immediately intrude. Xan positions himself as a reasonable leader, hoping to use the baby as a scientific breakthrough for Omega (provided the boy’s sperm turns out to be viable) and ensuring stability by marrying Julian and thus ending the Five Fishes movement. Although Xan is clearly a ruthless murderer, the plan he spells out for Theo is efficient and rational—Theo only objects because Xan does not take into account Theo’s feelings towards Julian. However, killing Xan only continues the cycle of absolute rule. Just like many of the novel’s other men, Theo soon realizes that the baby is a source of political power. He dons the coronation ring, thrilled at its potential even though his background as a historian allows him to see that he would probably fare no better than other dictators, even those who began with good intentions. The cycle of corruption and authoritarianism would not be broken, even with the baby’s birth: “It begins again, with jealousy, with treachery, with murder, with this ring on my finger” (277).

Even though Theo has never shown himself to be a person of faith, his final act in the book is to christen the baby with tears and blood. This could be deference to Julian’s wishes, the start of Theo’s own faith journey, or a symbolic gesture of rebirth and hope for a new world. In any event, the novel concludes with Theo, Julian, and the baby—parallels to Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus—as a miraculous family in a world that never thought it would see another birth. The ending is ambiguous—neither fully pessimistic or optimistic, and relying on the reader’s interpretation.