The Children of Men

I'm engrossed in this book "The Children of Men" by P.D. James. The subject sends my brain into endless fascination.

Imagine this: The human race has lost its ability to reproduce and it has been 25 years since the last child was born.

The book was written in 1992, so I have to adjust the chronology accordingly - like when they talk about "future" events that occur in 1996. While set in the future, it is void of that strange, sci-fi feel that one might expect. The story takes place in England, the main character an ordinary middle-aged professor at Oxford.

The first paragraph of the novel reads:

"Early this morning, 1 January 2021, three minutes after midnight, the last human being to be born on earth was killed in a pub brawl in a suburb of Buenos Aires, aged twenty-five years, two months and twelve days. If the first reports are to be believed, Joseph Richardo died as he had lived. The distinction, if one can call it that, of being the last human whose birth was officially recorded, unrelated as it was to any personal virtue or talent, had always been difficult for him to handle. And now he is dead."

And I was hooked!

"Twenty years ago, when the world was already half-convinced that our species has lost forever the power to reproduce, the search to find the last known human birth became a universal obsession, elevated to a matter of national pride, an international contest as ultimately pointless as it was fierce and acrimonious."

Just think of the gradual realization throughout the world that something is wrong... Obstetricians around the world would be the first to notice because they would see no more new pregnancies. Imagine then how the universal feeling of hopelessness grows with each passing year. Eventually, preschools would become empty, the buildings abandoned or converted for other functions. What would be done with all the toys, once there is no one left to play with them? What would be done with all the children's clothing, toys, books, etc.? Would they be locked away in warehouses, in hopes that maybe one day the childless world would somehow regain its ability to reproduce?

Then imagine when the entire remaining population on earth is over 70 years old. Who works the businesses that provide... anything? Food, water, electricity, medical care. Sure, you can plant your own gardens and raise your own animals for meat, but when your body gives out you're left with nothing. The last human beings to die naturally will do so alone. Imagine a city where only a few people are still alive and the end of the human race hovers over them. What if you were the last human being on earth?

What a frightening idea.

But so utterly fascinating.

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Edit: Eddie's comment reminded me that I just found out that they ARE making a movie out of the book. Here's a still of Clive Owen (playing the reluctant protagonist Theo) and Julianne Moore (playing the activist Julian). For more details read my comment.