The Children of Men is a dystopian 1992 science fiction novel by P.D. James set in 2021, years after the onset of a mass infertility epidemic. Unless scientists can discover a cure, there will be no more births and the human race will go extinct when the youngest generation dies. This scenario allows James to explore many themes, including existentialism, the meaning of a good life, and the corrupting nature of power.

The novel switches between first- and third-person perspective, with some chapters written from the point of view of Oxford professor Theo Faron, and others from an omniscient narrator. Theo’s chapters are entries in his diary, which are dated, while third-person narrator chapters have no titles.

All quotations from this guide are taken from the 2010 Kindle edition.

Content Warning: This guide contains references to suicide, which is discussed in the source text.

Plot Summary

Dr. Theodore Faron, or Theo, is a professor at Oxford University. Theo’s cousin, Xan Lyppiatt, is the Warden of England, who governs with the help of a five-member Council. Although they were fairly close as children, Theo has not spoken with Xan for three years.

The novel opens with Theo meeting a woman named Julian, who is part of the Five Fishes, a resistance group seeking reform and Xan’s possible expulsion from power. The Five Fishes releases a list of demands, including a new election and the closure of the brutal unregulated penal colony on the Isle of Man, where convicts experience starvation, murder, and cannibalism. The dissident group also wants the government to abolish the practice of group euthanasia called the Quietus, coercive semen testing, and gynecological exams.

Theo meets with Julian’s group and agrees to relay their wishes to Xan, but Xan refuses the Five Fishes’ demands. Weeks later, Miriam—one of Julian’s group—asks Theo for help. The group is on the run and one of them, Gascoigne, has been captured. Theo leaves with them, although he and Julian’s husband, Rolf, are quickly at odds. Julian is pregnant and wants to have the baby in secret, where it cannot be used for Xan’s political maneuvering. After another member of the group, Luke, is killed. Theo and Rolf find out that the baby is Luke’s, not Rolf’s. Rolf leaves the group and betrays them to Xan.

Theo takes Julian and Miriam to a woodshed where Julian gives birth. When Miriam leaves to fetch water, she is captured and murdered. Xan arrives, and Theo kills him during a shootout. He takes Xan’s ring, assuming temporary power. As the baby cries, Theo christens him with blood and tears.