On the Beach

“The short, bewildering war had followed, the war of which no history had been written or ever would be written now.”

Setting the tone for the exploration of the effects of global war, this passage describes the absurdity of the conflict. A war that lasts only three months has the power to end humanity. History has the power to teach, yet the irony of nuclear holocaust is that no one is left to write the history.

“The petrol pumps served them as hitching posts.”

This passage creates a context for the world in which the characters live. The fuel shortage pushes people to revert to 19th-century transportation methods and adapt defunct or obsolete technology to fit into their new world. Ironically, technological advancement caused the war, yet they now can’t use most of their machinery.

“[N]ot so long to go.”

Different characters repeat this phrase throughout the narrative as time becomes a pervasive motif. Time becomes currency as jobs and money are obsolete, and people search for meaningful ways to spend hours, not money. The truth in the phrase becomes a torture to the characters as they must decide to keep their routines despite the inevitability of death or seize the day and chase their carnal desires with no care for the consequences.