The Effects of the Adult Conspiracy in Piers Anthony's Xanth

In order to full understand the Adult Conspiracy, one must understand the land from which it originates. Xanth is a magic

While the adults do derive some pleasure from the Adult Conspiracy, in their own minds they are protecting the children from potentially harmful knowledge. Most children are oblivious to this fact. However, the naga that Dolph was betrothed to, Nada, comes into contact with an Eye Queue vine. This is a vine that grows in certain regions of Xanth that is covered in a variety of small eyes. Whenever someone comes into contact with the vine, they are temporarily granted a heightened intelligence. When Nada wears the vine, she understands just why the adults protect the children from the forbidden knowledge. She realizes that children stop being nice once they lose their innocence. She goes on to say that while children might hate the adults, the protection they provide to the children might be the one “decent” (211) thing that they do to or for children, depending on one’s point of view.

Regardless of who they are, all of these characters have come together after they have reached a certain age, usually around 16 or 17, to become a part of the Adult Conspiracy. Just as the land of Xanth evolves through the various works of Piers Anthony, so too does the Conspiracy begin to play a larger and larger role. The Conspiracy is a constant thorn in the side of all the children of Xanth. In The Color of Her Panties, Anthony states “that anyone young enough to be a non-Conspirator must Know and Not Know a rigorous schedule of things. Naturally most of the interesting things were in the Not Know category.” (19) This conspiracy often imitates the censorship present in our society, except for the fact that in Xanth it is an actual force to be reckoned with. It influences everyone, regardless of age or race. More than anything, the conspiracy creates a division amongst the people. The adults feel as though they are privileged to hold this hidden information, sometimes making them seem haughty to the children. This in turn makes the children view the adults disdainfully, going so far as to believe that adults have for some reason actually become less intelligent, as well as more inept, through their maturity. On one occasion in Heaven Cent, a boy actually suggests that one of the reasons adults might be concealing the secret of the Adult Conspiracy is that they are actually afraid that the children might be better at summoning the stork than they are.

In the following novel, Centaur Isle, Dor returns to his own time and body. Once there, he is accosted by one of his playmates, a girl named Irene. Irene enjoys playing games with Dor that border on being sexual in nature, but because she is still too young to be part of the Conspiracy, nothing can come of her activities. But because Dor had had experiences in an adult body, her playing left an impression on him. Since he was only involved in the Adult Conspiracy mentally and not physically, The Powers That Be decided that Dor was still too young to be in the Conspiracy. Though he is still considered a child, his experiences with both Irene and adult women deeply influence his dreams. In his dreams he went along with Irene’s games and began to take advantage of her. Much to his dismay, “the hand of an anonymous censor blotted out a scene of impending fascination.” (5) This censor makes several appearances. One point in the series, the censor actually has its own ship. It uses this ship to censor an entire town. While the town is under its power, the people are unable to say or do anything that could in any way be construed as being offensive to anyone. This is just another example of the literal nature of Xanth.

The Adult Conspiracy not only prevented children from knowing and viewing certain material, it also granted the adults power to compel the children to do various undesirably tasks. These tasks vary greatly, but all of them have been experienced by anyone th

Some topics in this essay:
Adult Conspiracy, Heaven Cent, Dor Conspiracy, Panties Anthony, Eye Queue, Castle Roogna, , Cent Dor’s, Piers Anthony, Adult Responsibilities, adult conspiracy, heaven cent, summoning stork, adult conspiracy actually, aspect adult, summon stork, break conspiracy, land xanth, piers anthony, conspiracy actually, aspect adult conspiracy, overthrow adult conspiracy, adult conspiracy makes, answer questions,