User Friendly in Childhood's End
             In Arthur C. Clarke's novel Childhood's End, people or beings use each other for
             selfish reasons. Sometimes it is subtle, even subconscious; other times it is a blatant
             usage. Three obvious examples occur and kind of chase each other around in a triangular
             fashion. 1) The Overlords use humans/humanity. 2) The Overmind uses humans. 3)
             The Overmind uses the Overlords. Humans also attempt to use the Overlords even
             though the Overlords are omnipotent and seem to already have humanity's fatal future
             planned out. Other than these overlying uses, small examples exist between characters
             throughout the novel. These will be cited and explained in a somewhat chronological
             One of the first instances is Wainwright and the Freedom League using Stormgren
             for information about the Overlords. "Next time you speak with the Supervisor, Mr.
             Stormgren, ask him that!" (17), says Wainwright referring to why Karellen won't show
             himself. Wainwright and the league want information like this so they can form their
             revolt against the Overlords' takeover.
             This brings about one of the bigger uses: The Overlords need a human mediator
             to communicate with the rest of the world on a personal level. On page 36, Joe says,
             "...but the Overlords have to use human agents." Karellen uses Stormgren to speak to
             In the chain of events surrounding Stormgren's capture, Joe and the kidnappers
             are holding Stormgren hostage. They use him to try and gain information. "You know
             what our motives are here...you are the only man who can tell us anything of the
             Overlords," (40) says one of the leaders. This turns into a reciprocal situation when from
             Stormgren's thoughts it is written, "There were acute minds here, and perhaps they could
             uncover something new" (41). Also, "...he [Stormgren] was hoping t...