Compare/contrast the rise and fall of the island of New Athens to the Greek empire of the same name.

Apply the outcome of the novel to the philosophy of existentialism, the belief that all of humankind's efforts to evolve and improve the world are in vain.

Apply points of the story to Darwin's theories of evolution, and survival of the fittest.

Relate Freud's psychological concept of id, ego and superego to the following groups from the story: the Humans, the Overlords, and the Overmind.

The author sometimes uses seasons to describe the state of the world throughout the novel. For example, as Part II ends with Karellen's thoughts on the world's bleak future, "But gold was also the color of sunset, of autumn: and only Karellen's ears could catch the first wailings of the winter storms" (Chapter 14, pg. 134). Compare the three parts of...