The Wanting Seed

Anthony Burgess’s The Wanting Seed was published in 1962, the same year as A Clockwork Orange, and also presents an unsettling view of the future, although one that has not embedded itself in popular consciousness to quite the same extent. The Wanting Seed shows us a society preoccupied with overpopulation, or scarce resources, a fear that has persisted at least since the publication of Thomas Malthus’ An Essay of the Principle of Population in 1798:

“The Wanting Seed tries to show what England might be like if it suffered from the pullulation of India.”

Yet, even more than this, the novel is concerned with the cyclical nature of history, cycles which Burgess, and his protagonist, history teacher Tristram Foxe, describe as Augustinian and Pelagian:

“Pessimistic conservatism, expecting the worst from man, does not always get the worst and hence is modified in the direction of optimistic socialism. But this latter creed, expecting the best from man, is usually disappointed, and disappointment is expressed in a greater government rigour, ending with downright tyranny.”

When the novel opens, all procreation is frowned upon. The death of Tristram and his wife, Beatrice-Joanna’s, baby is regarded coldly, the body being handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture (Phosphorus Reclamation Department), and her doctor advising her to, “Leave motherhood to the lower orders as nature intended.” Tristram, meanwhile, is refused the promotion at work he is entitled to in a system which prioritises those who are gay or sterilised. His own brother, Derek, has succeeded to a powerful position in government thanks to his feigned homosexuality, a deception that Tristram knows nothing about as the proof of Derek’s heterosexual activity is the affair he is having with Tristram’s wife. Derek tells Beatrice-Joanna that he is expecting a promotion:

“A job with a uniform… Big things are happening.”

The new job is a sign of the next stage in the cycle, intuited by Tristram when he spots large numbers of armed police on the streets:

“Some of these young recruits… look suspiciously like young hooligans.”

A new oppressive regime is unleashed and Tristram finds himself in jail, while Beatrice-Joanna, pregnant with Derek’s child, flees to the countryside to stay with her sister. Tristram is a rather hapless character, far from heroic – his intelligence only makes him pessimistic and his belief in the cycles of history hampers any idea he might forge his own fate. His imprisonment is a result of accidentally getting caught up in a protest (though once he is there his brother makes sure he is not released) and when he eventually escapes it is the day before all prisoners are released. A long trip to find his wife follows but the reader already knows she will not be there. At the end of it he manages to accidentally sign up for the army.

The army is the next stage in the cycle of history and one reason Tristram never feels like a fully developed character is that he is in place to demonstrate the validity of his own ideas. The popularity of war is accompanied by a lust for life evidenced in a sudden, all-encompassing promiscuity which Tristram embraces according to his theory:

“It’s an affirmation… It’s a way of showing that reason is only one instrument for running our lives. A return to magic, that’s what it is. It seems very healthy to me.”

The novel’s last part reveals the reason for the drive to greatly increase the armed forces, and answers Tristram’s questions as to “Who Is The Enemy? and What’s All The Fighting About?”, the title of two lectures he gives to the troops as an education officer which sees him sent into action instead. As the reader might suspect, the answer furthers Burgess’ satiric intent.

The Wanting Seed is a thoroughly entertaining novel though one with a rather dark line in humour. Alongside obvious quips like Tristram partnering with Ann Onymous at an orgy, there are scenes of cannibalism and violence that one feels Burgess finds equally amusing. It’s subject matter, however, having been for years in the shade of the feral youth and free will arguments of A Clockwork Orange, may now be more relevant than ever as climate change makes the world a liveable proposition for fewer and fewer people.

Tags: 1962club, Anthony Burgess, the wanting seed