On The Beach By Nevil Shute - 1373 Words

In Nevil Shute’s novel On the Beach, the world is quickly and quietly ending. The novel follows the last months of the lives of the last people on Earth as a cloud of radiation moves closer to their homes in Melbourne. The characters each cope with their inevitable demise in a different way: Moira Davidson resorts to alcoholism, Dwight Towers is in denial, John Osbourne indulges in material goods, and Peter Holmes tries to make the most of the time he has left with his family. Despite their dissimilar coping strategies and the horror of the situation, however, not a single character does a thing to save themselves or their families. No one theorizes a way to beat the radiation, no one devises a last-minute escape plan, and no one tries to keep humanity from going extinct. In his article, Tom Feller asserts that whether it is truly a realistic portrayal of humanity’s reaction to the apocalypse isn’t the point; instead, Shute’s portrayal of the end times as calm and docile is what gives the novel such forcefulness and emotion. Feller’s claim that the novel’s potency comes from Shute’s detached voice and unimaginative characters is proven by the characters’ reluctance to react to their fates, the sparse description, and the reserved tone of the book overall. First of all, Shute refrains from inserting his own political opinion or ideas on the demise of humanity, which allows more room for the readers to come to their own conclusions instead of having the author’s ideasShow MoreRelatedThe Road, By Cormac Mccarthy, And On The Beach1816 Words   |  8 Pagesconsidered to have a strong sense of morality and can feel what pains some must endure. Though the way being brought up does not define a person, it defines their ability to critically think. In both â€Å"The Road† by Cormac McCarthy, and â€Å"On the Beach† by Nevil Shute, characters learn to discover themselves and harness the energy of the human mind. Though not all characters in both novels find peace, most do with time. In the novel â€Å"The Road† by Cormac McCarthy, a boy and his father are set on headingRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1902 Words   |  8 PagesMarvel’s The Incredible Hulk, published in 1962, the protagonist gains his powers through exposure to radiation (Ahmed). Literature during this time, however, was not always so light-hearted. Many authors such as Nevil Shute heavily criticized use of the atomic bomb. Shute’s novel, On the Beach, depicts a post-apocalyptic world in which countries of the Northern Hemisphere engaged in all-out nuclear warfare. The novel takes place in Australia as citizens are forced to cope with the end of all life as