Throughout The Children of Men, there were various significant images, one of which was light/dark contrast. James used light/dark contrast throughout the entire book to set the scene and to outline important events. The light was used to show peace, especially with the females that Theo was attached to. Although, where there was light, there was also darkness for the sake of contrast, or vice versa. Darkness helped shape the reality of the hope that light introduced. This type of contrast gave the story and open ending until the end. It made hope and failure possible which has become a major theme of the novel: hoping for something and when it fails, accepting the failure. Towards the end of the novel, darkness became their hope. They relied on darkness to help them hide, but at the same time the lights of a village would have given them hope. Light/dark contrast captured the essence of Omega and Alpha-the and the beginning-and was significant in the understanding and analyzing of the novel.
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