On The Beach
By
The Cold War
The Cold War was a state of tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern
Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states) and powers in the Western Bloc (the United
States, its NATO allies and others).
The dates commonly accepted for the Cold War is the period between 1947, the year the
Truman Doctrine (a U.S. foreign policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet
expansionism) was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed.
During the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were involved in an arms race which
lead to increasingly lethal weapons. This was especially true in relation to nuclear
weapons. The two superpowers began stockpiling nuclear warheads that had increasing
power and lethality.
In addition to building arsenals, the two superpowers were also involved in a number of
“proxy” wars. Rather than fight each other directly, the U.S. and the Soviet Union would
support one side or the other in regional conflicts around the world.
The U.S. involvement in Korea and Vietnam were a direct result of the Cold War. During
the 1980’s, we were involved in a number of Central American civil wars, attempting to halt
the spread of communism.
Falmouth, Australia Melbourne, Australia Dutch Harbor, Alaska Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Kiska Island Midway Island
What is a Cobalt Bomb?
A cobalt bomb is a type of "salted bomb": a nuclear weapon designed to produce enhanced amounts of radioactive fallout, intended to contaminate a large area withradioactive material.
Commonly referred to as a “Doomsday Device”.
Cobalt Radiation Levels vs. Time
An Sv, or Sievert is a measurement of radiation exposure on the body. Typically, in a given year, a person will be exposed to 2.5 microsieverts per year. This is exposure due to background radiation from the environment.
If a cobalt bomb deposits intense fallout causing a dose rate of 10 Sv per hour, any unsheltered person exposed to the fallout would receive a lethal dose in about 30.
After one half-life of 5.27 years, only half of the cobalt-60 will have decayed, and a person exposed to the radiation would receive a lethal dose in 1 hour.
After 10 half-lives (about 53 years), a healthy person could spend 1 to 4 days exposed to the fallout with no immediate effects.
After 20 half-lives (about 105 years), humans could remain unsheltered full-time. However, this yearly radiation exposure rate is on the order of 30 times greater than the peacetime exposure rate. As a result, the rate of cancer incidence in the survivor population would likely increase.
After 25 half-lives (about 130 years), the dose rate from cobalt-60 would have decayed enough to be considered negligible.
What is radioactive fallout?
On The Beach Characters
Dwight Towers - The decent, soft-spoken captain of the American nuclear submarine. Although Dwight is considered a practical, rational man, he continues to believe—or at least pretend to believe—that his family is still alive in nuclear-war- ravaged America. Work is Dwight's salvation, and he continues to work hard whether he has to or not. He refuses to break rules, and remains loyal to the Navy and his wife until the end of his life.
Moira Davidson - A hard-drinking, tough-talking flirtatious single young woman from Australia. Moira prefers to dance and drink than face the reality that the approaching radiation means she will never have the opportunity to fulfill her dreams. Even though she knows Dwight will never be disloyal to his wife, Moira becomes his good friend, bringing life and excitement to Dwight's last months. In turn, Dwight's influence helps Moira find some peace with their inevitable fate.
Peter Holmes - A lieutenant commander in the Royal Australian Navy. Peter, like Dwight, is a real Navy man who longs to go to the sea even if it means leaving his wife, Mary, and baby daughter, Jennifer, during their last few months alive. When Holmes is not working, his time is consumed with domestic matters, such as gardening and shopping. He does his best to take care of his family. On the whole, he is very much an ordinary man.
Mary Holmes - Peter Holmes's wife. Mary lives for the comfort and domesticity of her family. Up until the last moments, she refuses to accept that her world is coming to an end.
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
Themes
SELF-DESTRUCTION
Even after the final page of On the Beach, it may take us a while to grasp the fact that all the characters in the book have committed suicide, the ultimate act of self-destruction. Before the radiation even comes down to kill them, many of the characters are actively seeking out other ways to kill themselves. Moira drinks herself to oblivion, as does Douglas Froude, against his doctor's orders. John tries his best to finish himself off racing in his Ferrari.
Some characters, however, do their best to preserve life, but often do so in a delusional
mindset. Mary reacts hysterically to Peter's instructions on euthanizing Jennifer because it is against all instinct for a mother to kill her own child. A mother's role is to create and preserve the next generation, not destroy it. Shute wants to prove that nuclear war is humanity's ultimate act of self-destruction. There is no winner in a nuclear war; even the last survivors get only the prospect of a dignified, self-administered death by pills as their prize. The message is especially meant for those in nations—such as Australia—who like to believe themselves neutral or remote, and therefore untouchable by war.
HUMANKIND'S DESTRUCTIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH TECHNOLOGY
machines. Although technological gadgets are bringing the world to the end, humans are still in love with these gadgets. At the racetrack, people are more concerned about proving the efficiency of their machines than the safety of the drivers or spectators. Like those who created and used the atomic bomb, the racecar drivers are ready and willing to use technology, but are unwilling to take responsibility for its potential
dangers.
Many of the individual characters in the novel show a love for machines. John, for instance, loves his Ferrari. Mary demands an electric lawn mower even though she will die in a few days. Even when Lieutenant
Sunderstrom is surrounded by death and destruction in his coastal expedition near Seattle, he still takes time to admire the transmitter sending the radio signal, and he even goes as far as to look for the name of the machine's manufacturer. Sunderstrom cannot bear the prospect of the machine wearing out and
breaking, so he turns it off, giving it a more humane death than that experienced by most of the war victims. Efficient, anonymous machines have led to the destruction of humanity, but Sunderstrom, like many other characters in the novel, is still in awe of these scientific creations. Yeoman Swain is another who cannot resist the charm of well-oiled machines. Even though he has just found all his loved ones dead, he is still happy because he has a car and a motorboat. People care so much about technology that now many of them choose machines are their final companions: both Moira and John take their pills in cars. Although this relationship with technology is ironic, Shute does not mock the human love for machines; he merely
explores the fact that this love exists.
Moira highlights the dangers of knowledge when she flippantly asks if the Australian government will leave a record of how to make a cobalt bomb. Her remark is all the more powerful because she says it jokingly. While science is sometimes good for human society, technology has also led to its ruin. Radiation is the only lasting legacy of human scientific knowledge, making the link between knowledge and destruction clear.
While scientists should be horrified about the war they helped create, they continue to objectively conduct experiments and search for knowledge. John declares he will enjoy discovering the effects of radiation poisoning, not considering the moral and ethical implications of doing frivolous while so many lives are being lost. It is this scientific objectivity and detachment that made it possible for researchers to create the bombs in the first place. Moira respond sarcastically to John's shocking comments, but John is never fully criticized for his viewpoint. Shute writes like the objective scientist that he was in real life: he observes human
behavior, but does not criticize it, leaving readers to draw their own moral and ethical conclusions.
Knowledge is also key to the salvation of the human race. If people had been educated about the dangers of nuclear war, then the catastrophe might never have happened. Before they die, Peter mentions that
newspapers could have prevented the war, if the articles they printed actually educated people about how to achieve peace in the world. Education is the key. Like Peter, Shute realizes that newspapers are filled with sensationalist headlines that distract people from the real issues. Because the newspapers are not teaching about the dangers of nuclear war and how to stop it from ever happening, Shute writes On the Beach to serve the purpose. Shute's message is clear about the need to understand that the inevitable will come about if we do not learn how to stop it.
WORK
The characters in On the Beach find salvation in work rather than religion. As in many of Shute's novels, the characters are always at work, and in this case, working until the last day of humanity. At first, it seems shocking that Peter would leave his wife and daughter to work when radiation sickness will soon end their lives. But Peter has not yet accepted the fact he will die: he is still planning for his future career, and he knows his wife has the same outlook. Furthermore, he really loves his work. Like many of the characters in this book, Peter would like to spend his last days working. Work is both a salvation and a distraction from thinking about the hopeless times in which they live. Because she does not have work to keep her busy, Moira spends her day drinking. When Dwight suggests to her that the time left might be a "period of grace," he is foreshadowing Moira's transformation into a sober and gentle woman who finds dignity in work during the last months of her life. The novel also shows other people working and taking pride in their work until the very end. During his last trip to Melbourne, Peter takes a ride on a tram driven by a man who says he will continue to drive it until he dies.
SANITY
The extreme events in the novel shift the characters' definitions of sanity, as nearly all the characters show a resistance to believing and accepting the situation. Dwight, for instance, though a practical man, still
ridiculous. John, with his racing, and Douglas, with his vintage wine, are the only two characters who seem to take advantage of these last few days to live out their dreams and break with convention. Perhaps this is because, out of all the characters, these two men are have among the most realistic views of the situation they are in.
OBEDIENCE
On the Beach illustrates the danger of choosing obedience over morality and common sense. Shute implies that people do their jobs without thinking deeply about why they are doing them. Many who are in the
government are trained to follow orders—not question them—and that is exactly what they do. For example, Peter fought in the war for a little while even though he did not know why he was fighting. Mindless
obedience in the military, especially among its leadership, appears to be one of the primary reasons the war got out of control. Dwight admits he too would have behaved like the rest of the junior officers who were left in control, using every last bomb—he was trained to be obedient, not diplomatic and critically thinking. He would have defended his national honor without thinking of the moral consequences of his actions. Indeed, even in his final day, Dwight refuses to break the Navy rules. His need for obedience and order in his life is greater than his sense of obligation to comfort from Moira in his dying moments, so he prevents her from accompanying him onboard for the submarine's final voyage.
Symbols
THE NARCISSUS
In Chapter Eight, Mary hears news on the radio that radiation sickness has reached Sydney, but she ignores the broadcast and pays more attention to the narcissus flower blooming in her garden. The narcissus flower gets its name from Narcissus, a figure from Greek mythology who he created his own doom when he fell in love with his own reflection. Like Narcissus, Mary is self-absorbed, wrapped up in her safe, secure life at home. Mary ignores everything that goes on beyond her home and garden. Shute implies that her lack of concern for the news—strikes, war, wage demands—is symptomatic of a broader lack of awareness in society. By showing Mary's blasé attitude to the news, Shute is warning us that not thinking we are insulated from world events is foolish, and perhaps ultimately dangerous.
THE BEACH AND THE RADIO SIGNAL FROM SEATTLE
