Phat notes a guy making a commentary that ends:
(commentator writes here)
More than most of Clarke's novel, Childhood's End draws on allegory: the Overlords are Satan and his rebel angels, the Overmind is a God-like figure, and the assimilation of the children into the Overmind is the Rapture and Armageddon rolled into one.
well, that guy has got his head up his arse. The book clearly paints the Overlords as a species that never gets to become part of the Overmind. So much so that I felt sad for Karellen. He is as far from the bibical Satan as he can get, *despite* looking like man's early depictions.
In fact Clarke has created an original dynamic, and we, the audience, are left unable to condemn or praise the Overmind. But certainly we cannot condemn the Overlords!
"I'm the Grim Reaper now, Mitch. Step aside."
- xongsmith, 5.7d
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