Theodore Faron Children Of Men

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The Real Purpose of Julian
A secondary character is necessary because they advance the plot and make the story more interesting. In the novel Children of Men, P.D James demonstrates that a secondary character can have an immense impact on both the main character and the story, through the use of Julian. Dr. Theodore Faron is an emotionally detached man who has no hope for a good future until he meets Julian a young, open minded woman who changes Theo’s life as she introduces the ideas of hope, belief and love to him. The purpose of Julian is to make Dr. Theodore Faron more hopeful and empathetic, by doing this she adds more depth to his character.
Dr. Theodore Faron is an apathetic and logical man. He lives an empty, purposeless life and this …show more content…

Firstly, Theo has a very pessimistic attitude and due to this he lives a very hopeless life filled with negativity. As a man without any hope he believes that “This planet is doomed anyway”(44). It is clear that Theo lacks optimism because he views the end of the world as something inevitable and normal. The use of the word “anyway” implies that Theo does not care at all for life . Theo’s view of the world demonstrates how his character lacks substance and therefore makes the story uninteresting. Furthermore, Theo has a misconception of life and he simply functions rather than experiencing life like the rest of us. He believes that he is “just as anxious to stay alive as anyone else, just as obsessed with the functioning of [his] body”(James 7). Rather than viewing life as a gift with a purpose,his only worry is the concept of living itself, a life which is structured and almost mechanical. The life that Theo lives is meaningless and worthless because it is a life without ambition. Theo’s life is so mundane and colorless that these traits also get associated with his character. Finally, Theo’s logical and factual life makes him and the …show more content…

To begin with, despite Theo’s gloomy attitude, Julian is a symbol of hope for him. As mentioned above Theo lives a bleak and depressing life but after meeting Julian“For the first time… there rose in him a spring of hope”(179). The impact of Julian upon Theo is clear and immense. A life with Julian is dangerous and challenging but for Theo it is a life full of hope. Julian’s personality and behaviour intrigues Theo because he sees her as a strong and rebellious woman in a time of despair and sadness. Julian’s strength makes Theo more optimistic and this enhances his character by making him more fascinating and complex. Moreover, Theo’s personality and attitude changes as he experiences new emotions due to the secondary character. Theo starts to think that“The emotion he [feels] towards her [is] as mysterious as it [is] irrational…”(226).Rather than being logical and dispassionate he becomes more spontaneous and open-minded. Characteristics like this are new and confusing for Theo because he has never experienced them before. Theo loses sight of all his rationality and experiences an “irrational” emotion toward Julian. After the addition of Julian to the book, Theo’s character becomes more dynamic as he begins experiencing more emotions and learns to express them. Due to these emotions the reader is able to connect with

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