In Children of Men, the belief in love has been replaced by a general apathy in regards to the human population. Humans have devolved emotionally, or at least become more cynical and selfish, about their lives since the apocalypse began. They lack the emotional and physical connections brought on by the personal and physiological aspects of established relationships-whether that relationship is familial, platonic, or sexual. Sexuality is regulated by the government, with state-sanctioned pornography and prostitution proffered through various pleasure-inducing programs. Sexuality and the body are used as means of control, by pacifying the population with physical release the government assures their complacence. Even though Theo posits "[r]omantic and idealized love has taken over" (7) the senses of the population, these feelings are merely idealized notions of an emotion humans now lack, along with hope and desire.
Although Love, as the evangelist Rosie continually asserts, is the only hope for a cure in a world doomed to hopelessness and despair, the element of love, which progressively ended when Omega began, becomes confused with sense of purpose, duty, obligation, and responsibility towards the end of the novel; these characteristics are not mutually exclusive to love, but tend to be looked upon with the same fanatic intensity. Love, as we are aware of the concept today, ceased to exist and only manifests through specific characteristics, which does not suggest it is still present, only the sense of purpose created by such emotion. One passage in the novel declares "[m]an is diminished if he lives without knowledge of his past; without hope of a future he becomes a beast" (98); the concept of love allows those still living to forget impending death and extinction in favor of a relationship with those still surviving, even if the emotion is not reality, but construction.
The misguided notion of love in the novel, or at least a cynical variation on my part, is best illustrated through analysis of Theo's character. He declares himself a "selfish son, an unloving father, a bad husband" (218). Theo has shirked responsibility his entire life, even going so far as to declare himself purposefully evading the obligations inherent in responsibility: he gives up on his marriage because he does not want to bear the guilt of not loving his wife or daughter, and killing his daughter; he quits his position as counselor to the Warden of England, Xan, because he dislikes the responsibility and being overlooked; he is conflicted about joining the Five Fishes because he does not want the social or personal responsibility that comes with revolution, however minor. Theo experiences loneliness and isolation through choice and states: "I am 50 years old and I have never known what it is to love…[on a] doomed and joyless planet when man goes to his last rest and all desire fades" (133-134). But when he is introduced to Julian he experiences the first stirrings of obligation and duty. When he decides to help and get her to safety after Rolf has left, his entire view of the world shifts with his newfound responsibility. He finds himself with a purpose, and having never experienced even the vestiges of love, that purpose is mistaken for love. Obligation, duty, and responsibility are all symptoms of purpose, not desire or emotional attachment. When confronted with these strange feelings, the world opens up for Theo and he views it a "a place in which nothing that lived could be wholly alien from him" (222).
Whatever hope the ending of the novel garners is banished with the realization that Theo's love is not quite what it seems. Love, even the semblance of love, is a dangerous emotion, much more so than apathy, particularly when wielded by one who is unfamiliar with its effects, such as Theo. His burgeoning love with Julian will eventually cause him pain, as he will not be able to bear the loss of her or the child, and the hope that child signifies. Theo lashes out at Miriam before the child is born, questioning the effects on the child if s/he is the only one that will ever be born again: "To what hell are we condemning her? Can you begin to imagine the loneliness of her last years" (219)? True love can blind the unwary and can sometimes lead to unexpected outcomes, but when that love is confused with other emotions it becomes problematic. When Theo places the coronation ring on his finger after killing Xan, dangerous thoughts brought on by his sense of duty and responsibility to Julian and her child surface: "[t]he sense that everything was possible to him, that what he wanted would be done, that what he hated would be abolished, that the world could be fashioned according to his will." (241) The power of position is clearly an enticing notion to Theo, and a "shadow" crosses the eyes of Julian, betraying the idealized notions of romance and love that Theo has latched onto, and indicating that hope for the future is as tenuous as their current situation.
