58 pages • 1 hour read
Adrian TchaikovskyChildren of Time
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Conflict Between Tradition and Progress
Questions of morality related to scientific advancement often arise from concerns that science has the potential to disrupt nature or that human scientists will play god and bring about dire consequences. There are also major oppositions to various scientific endeavors spearheaded by religious belief. The novel explores the conflict between tradition and progress via discussions of human and spider religious opposition, the potentially destructive effects of scientific advancement, and the positive potential of cultural and scientific progress.
In the novel’s beginning, Avrana Kern is directly opposed to the NUNS on Earth, and that opposition is the precipitating factor in the establishment of the Green Planet. When the saboteur blows up the ship as an attempt to destroy the progress Kern is seeking, Kern’s reaction to the NUNS is to reflect, “If they had their way, we’d all end up back in the caves. Back in the trees. The whole point of civilization is that we exceed the limits of nature” (4). She believes that humanity’s only possible form of progress is to “exceed nature” rather than to discover or honor nature. This arrogant stance ironically leads Kern herself to become the religious factor that stalls progress for the spider society.
The spiders have an “inherent curiosity” (134) that drives their scientific pursuits and inquiries and lays the foundation for the religion inspired by Kern’s presence as a satellite in their skies. When the spiders initially find the crystal that allows them to hear the signal containing Kern’s mathematical questions, their discovery is fueled by a sense of mystery and by their desire to probe the natural world for greater understanding. The fact that the spiders’ sense of religion arises from the beauty of mathematics also lays the groundwork for the eventual destruction of this religion. While humans base their beliefs largely on one figure’s strength of personality or on a commitment to maintaining a sense of mystery, the spiders’ religion is fundamentally scientific and mathematical in nature. Therefore, when the priestesses refuse to allow the adherents of this religion to progress, there is a significant resistance not just from the dedicated scientific community, but from the majority of the species. For the spiders, their scientific development ultimately allows them to progress beyond the realm of religion, as their belief system was always founded upon the dual values of discovery and inquiry.
The conflict between tradition and progress is also evident in Holsten’s reactions to the end of life on Earth and to the progress (or lack thereof) of humanity itself. Holsten believes that the scientific progress of mankind is epitomized by the scientific prowess of the Old Empire. However, he also sees that progress has ignored nature and tradition, and he recognizes that this form of ignorance has resulted in the destruction of Earth’s ecology and the fall of humanity. When he considers his fellow humans on The Gilgamesh, his unique perspective on human history allows him to perceive the lack of cultural progress over the ages, and he recognizes their adherence to old behaviors that are inherently destructive. Holsten alone of all the humans holds a complex understanding of the potential that lies in combining a reverence for nature with a respect for tradition and a dedication to promoting forward progress. This philosophy is ultimately manifested in the novel’s conclusion, which suggests that the various sentient beings have joined forces to strike a new balance between tradition and progress.
The Link between Physical Attributes and Cultural Evolution
As Tchaikovsky charts the evolution of spider culture and compares it to that of humans, he implicitly posits that social and cultural changes at the species level are largely based upon the physical attributes of that species. Thus, the novel critically examines the differences between the cultural and societal evolution of spiders and humans, implying that many of each species’ defining cultural traits depend largely upon their physical strengths and limitations, which dictate how they see the world and how they make their mark upon it. Over the long, slow course of evolution, both spiders and humans have changed physically from their initial forms, becoming larger and more physically powerful. Similarly, both spiders and humans have evolved much larger brains and have developed tools such as language in order to survive as a group and to transmit knowledge. However, while humans develop audible language and have evolved to walk on two legs, the spiders’ worldview and language is shaped by their eight legs and their ability to spin webs, and they communicate via felt vibration and movement rather than by speech.
At the same time, their web-spinning leads to a more abstract urge to build new connections, and as a result, the spiders create a society that is based upon cooperation rather than conflict. Whenever they are faced with opposing forces (such as the destructive ants), they seek ways to incorporate these factors and use them to create a stronger whole. This approach contrasts sharply with the human instinct to destroy that which is deemed to be “Other.” Thus, while humans separate themselves from nature to survive, spiders work within nature’s limits and develop far more organic solutions to their problems. This difference is highlighted in Portia’s experience of The Gilgamesh, for she observes that “[t]he giants must live their lives amongst these rigid, unvarying angles, entombed between these massive, solid walls. Nothing makes any attempt to mimic nature. Instead, everything is held in the iron hand of that dominating alien aesthetic” (572). Ultimately, the spiders deal with the humans in the same way that they dealt with the ants: by incorporating them into the conglomeration of spider society.
Although the physical attributes of spiders have an effect upon how they propagate and transmit information, the eventual progress of their social customs also posits that it is possible for a species to rise above the limitations of its physical form. Because the spiders are invertebrates rather than mammals, they do not have live births or care for their young. As a result, the species can only survive and advance by transmitting its knowledge genetically to each succeeding generation. Spider instinct therefore encourages females to cannibalize males after mating, and in the earlier stages of their society, this factor results in a distinct social imbalance between the dominant female spiders and the less physically powerful males, who are always aware of the biological imperative that urges females to kill and eat them. However, the spiders’ social evolution allows them to overcome these violent instincts and pursue a more intelligent and inclusive society, aligning with their greater cultural imperative to seek integrative solutions rather than destructive ones. Thus, Tchaikovsky suggests that whereas humans often revert to their base instincts of violence and power, focusing upon the destructive goal of conquest, the spiders, as Holsten notes, “build” (585) their society in cooperation with one another and with other species.
Promoting Coexistence through Mutual Understanding
At its core, Children of Time examines the question of how fundamentally different species might find a way to peacefully coexist. Science fiction that explores the possible existence of alien life often questions whether interacting with other sentient species will result in war and destruction or in a mutually beneficial alliance. Tchaikovsky uses the nanovirus as a vehicle to explain his answer to this question: that coexistence can arise only from mutual understanding and a shared sense of empathy. This underlying argument is woven throughout the novel, both in the genetic development of the spiders and in the internal and external conflicts that the spiders and humans encounter or create. The novel’s resolution offers the only reasonable solution that can ensure the survival of both species; they must connect and come to believe that they are, in essence, the same.
Tchaikovsky argues that empathy is an understanding that “you are like me,” and in the wake of such a simple yet profound paradigm shift, the Other is eradicated. Throughout the novel, a number of clear divisions are established. For example, Kern refers to the Gilgamesh humans as monkeys who are not of her Earth and are therefore not her responsibility to aid; this stance creates a division between the Old Empire and contemporary humans. Other divisions are created between the spiders and other bug species, between belief systems within the spider species, and between the arachnid genders. Likewise, the humans on the Gilgamesh are divided primarily by Guyen’s actions. First, enmity arises from the mutiny born of Guyen’s failure of empathy, and this conflict is followed by the dynamics born of Guyen’s dangerous bid for immortality. Each of these divisions features two distinct sides that remain unable or unwilling to find common ground with their opposition. The important difference, however, is that the spiders learn the value of incorporating the Other into their society. By contrast, the humans (with the notable exception of Holsten) refuse to acknowledge any potential for empathy until the nanovirus fundamentally changes their physical makeup and renders them more prone to radical forms of empathy.
The spiders grow to value alliance, coexistence, and empathy over conquest, violence, and power, and this essential shift takes place for two important reasons. The first reason is the nanovirus itself, for it can only endure if the spiders survive. This relationship requires that the spiders’ Understanding (their collective progress and knowledge) is passed down genetically to each new generation. Therefore, any spider with specialized knowledge becomes inherently valuable to the survival of the entire species, and the arachnid entire civilization is built on shared understanding. The second reason for the spiders’ cooperative approach to the world comes from their experience with the ants. As enemies, the ants pose a formidable threat that can entirely eradicate the spider species. The spiders cannot win with sheer numbers or force because there are too many ants, and their use of metal and fire is deadly to the spiders. Therefore, the only possible solution is to make the ants into allies. The success of the science in that scenario shows the spiders that “[e]verything can be a tool. Everything is useful” (589). For this reason, they look to their Understanding to find solutions to each new problem, forging alliances rather than engaging in wholesale slaughter.
Essentially, all the major conflicts and violent moments in the novel arise from crucial failures of understanding. Guyen’s error, which creates the mutiny, comes from his failure to see that being abandoned on an icy moon is not a mission that anyone on the ship would want. Holsten immediately understands this issue and empathizes with the mutineers, but no one else on the ship is willing to understand their position. Similarly, the mutineers fail to see the strategic necessity of maintaining a base to protect the future of the human race; they can only see how their lives will be worsened as a result of their participation in forming a lunar colony. If Guyen had sought to understand the people he was tasked with saving, he might have been able to accomplish a successful lunar colony.
Similarly, when Guyen chooses to attempt to upload himself into the computer, he refuses to consider the potential risk that he poses to the survival of humanity. Lain, by contrast, can see the needs of the people whom she leads, and she engineers creative solutions rather than forcing obeisance. When the humans and the spiders come into contact, the humans react with violence because they immediately see the spiders as threats and are unable to accept that the spiders are in fact sentient. Vitas goes so far as to insist that the spiders are merely programmed by Kern. Likewise, even Kern’s advice to the spiders belies her inability to understand Holsten’s people, for she assumes that destroying them is the only solution. Ultimately, a new form of peace is only reached thanks to the Understanding of the spiders, who rely upon their capacity for empathy and are able to see a different species as valuable. They therefore take the necessary steps to allow both species to coexist.
