Backbencher

"On the Beach" is a novel written by Nevil Shute. It tells of the aftermath of an all-out nuclear war. The setting is in Australia and seems to be one of the only places in world to escape the bombs and deadly radioactive material floating their way. But they will only survive for a little while because global wind currents are slowly pushing the radioactive material their way killing everything in its path. The survivors detect a Morse code radio signal coming from the United States, giving them hope that there is some survivors, but the signal came from an American nuclear submarine. The sub continues to look for survivors in locations around Queensland and the Northern Territory but finds no survivors. The captain, Dwight Towers leaves a girl, Moira Davidson, to whom he has become fond of recently and continues with his search. Although his wife and children in the U.S are dead, he refuses to buy into that fact and continues to buy them gifts and writes them letters.

The Australian government makes an agreement to give citizens cyanide pills and injections so when the radiation comes, they will not have to suffer for a long time. They can just take their pills and injections and kill themselves instead. Although in spite of all the terrible things happening, the people continue to live their lives best they can and enjoy the small pleasures and continue their usual activities. People would plant gardens that they will never see sprout. The end of the book ends as it originally foretold, the end has to come and it did.

This novel was particularly interesting because it showed how people react to their own lives when they know that they will have to accept their own death because of the slow moving clouds. It was a little different book because there always seemed to be no hope, unlike movies and other books where they have a little sight of hope and eventually find a way to execute a way to survive. I would never be able to understand what would go through one's head, especially the younger generation in these circumstances. I also thought it was particularly sad that the Australian government gave their people cyanide pills so they could kill themselves. Although it is a good gesture, I am not convinced that it is the morally correct thing to do. Perhaps they could find a way to survive, but instead killed themselves because of the government handing out cyanide pills.