The Wanting Seed

'The Wanting Seed' is a dystopic novel by the English author Anthony Burgess, written in 1962. Although the novel addresses many societal issues, the primary subject is overpopulation and its relation to culture. Religion, Government, and history are also addressed. A healthy portion of the book is a condemnation of war.

According to Burgess, "I have spent the last 25 years thinking that 'The Wanting Seed' could, in my leisurely old age, be expanded to a length worthy of the subject."

Synopsis

The novel begins by introducing the two protagonists: Beatrice-Joanna, a homemaker, and her husband Tristam, a history teacher, who have recently suffered through their son's death. Throughout the first portion of the novel, overpopulation is depicted through the limitation and reuse of materials, and cramped living conditions. One of the more interesting methods with which is the active descrimination against heterosexuals. One of the major conflicts of the novel is between Tristam and his brother, Derek. Very much alike at first, Derek chose a different path than Tristam and pretends to be homosexual while in public. In private, he has an affair with Beatrice-Joanna.

This changes as the police become more active - something that begins as a mysterious blight spreads across the world. Tristam is arrested after getting unintentionally mixed up in a protest and spends the next section of the novel in jail, as society outside changes rapidly. While he imprisoned, formerly repressed religion begins to bloom, fertility rituals are endorsed, and the structure of society, as well as government, crumbles. Most shockingly, cannibalism is openly practiced in much of England. With the help of his cellmate, a massive black man, Tristam escapes and tries to rejoin his wife. He travels across England, briefly joining "a dining club," a rather chaotic affair which provides food for him - though he suspects that this food is composed mostly of murdered human beings.

His journey eventually takes him to a sort of soup kitchen, where he is tricked into enlisting in the army. This is the third section of the novel. In the army, Tristam is shipped to an unknown location, though the reader later discovers that he is still in England. In his first battle, every other member of his battalion is killed, and Tristam soon discovers that the purpose of the "war" is population control, since the government has regained power.

Escaping back into general society, Tristam makes his way back to his wife. He finds that in his absence, she has married Derek - now the roles are reversed and Beatrice-Joanna cheats on Derek for Tristam. She has also had twins by Derek and named them after her two brotherly lovers. The book closes with Burgess clarifying his theme:

"The wind rises... we must try to live. The immense air opens and closes my book. The wave, pulverized, dares to gush and spatter from the rocks. Fly away, dazzled, blinded pages. Break, waves. Break with joyful waters...

Cyclical History

Often repeated in the novel is the concept that history is cyclical. As Tristam explains in the first few chapters to his slumbering history class, there are three phases: Pelphase, Interphase, and Gusphase.

Pelphaseis named after Pelagianism, the Pelphase is characterized by the belief that people are generally good. Crimes have slight punishment, and the government tries to improve the population. The government works through socialism. According to Tristam "A government functioning in its Pelagian phase commits itself to the belief that man is perfectible, that perfection can be achieved by his own efforts, and that the journey towards perfection is along a straight road." The novel begins - and ends - in Pelphase.

Interphase is the darkening of Pelphase into Gusphase - an "Intermediate" phase. As Tristam explains things, the government grows increasingly disappointed in its population's inability to be truly good, and thus police forces are strengthened and the state becomes Totalitarian. In many repects, Interphase is a finite version of George Orwell's 1984.

"'Brutality!' cried Tristam. The class was at last interested. 'Beatings-up. Secret police. Torture in brightly lighted cellars. Condemnation without trial. Finger-nails pulled out with pincers. The rack. The cold-water treatment. The gouging out of eyes. The firing squad in the cold dawn. And all this because of disappointment. The Interphase.'"

Gusphase is named after the theoligician Augustine of Hippo. In short, Gusphase involves the lifting of the Interphase. The leaders begin to realize how horrible they have become, and realize that they are being overly harsh. Therefore, the government relaxes all its rules and creates a sort of havoc. Tristam describes the Gusphase: "The orthodox view presents man as a sinful creature from whom no good at all my be expected... It eventually appears that human social behaviour is rather better than any Augustinian pessimist has any right to expect, and so a sort of optimism begins to emerge. And so Pelagianism is reinstated."