Reading Essay

Carlie Sorrells
Ms. Johnson
8-28-12
English ll pre-ap
Summer Reading Assignment-Alas Babylon
Alas Babylon by Pat Frank is a literary work of art that holds important themes applicable to the present. Though the story takes place in the time of the Cold War, some of the messages are still transferable to life in the modern world. An apocalyptic world where the United States is at war with the Soviet Union is the premise of the book in which the characters are put up to the ultimate test, survival. The passage, “Survival of the fittest…the strong survive. The frail die…That’s how it is and that’s the way it’s going to be” (pg. 176) reminds society today that life changes and we as humans must adapt or die, to acclimate to our situations to come out in the best way possible, and perhaps most importantly, to learn from those who do not adapt. This is elaborated on more with the quote, “Some nations and some people melt in the heat of crisis and come apart like fat in the pan. Others meet the challenge and harden” (pg 133). Not everyone reacts the same way to problems and those who do not react responsibly and with a calm head will ultimately “melt” while those who understand the responsibilities and actions that must be carried out will “harden”, come out stronger and wiser for it. This quote rings true in many forms. When countries are at war, the leaders have different strategies for attack. They will lead the war with the ideas they think are best, even though they differ from others. The author Pat Frank included these words to show how when tragedy strikes, every person will react in their own natural response, some more strongly and wittedly than others. The main action everyone in the book attempted to accomplish was that of surviving another day and living to see tomorrow as explained with the words found on page 123, “The struggle was not against a human enemy, or for victory. The struggle, for those who survived The Day, was to survive the next”. The single most important challenge for all the characters was to give absolutely everything they had to the cause of living through the war. This quote shows that every life is precious and we must do everything we can to preserve it and live for as long as possible. The trial of survival was different for some of the characters of the book. With the passage, “All their lives, ever since they’ve known anything they’ve lived under the shadow of war-atomic war. For them the abnormal has become normal. All their lives they have heard nothing else, and they expect it” (pg 85) we can see that a number of the characters had a different approach in regards to the continuance of the human race. Everyone has different backgrounds and experiences from one another, so naturally each person’s norm is different as well. This includes how each individual fights for their lives even if some have had more exposure to preparing for the worst. Unfortunately lives were lost in this book, including the life of a man named Malachai. The doctor who could not save his life due to the lack of tools needed to emancipate Malachai of the physical suffering he endured before finally dying, reflected on that event. “They had not and probably could not have saved Malachai. They might save someone else. A century ago the tools had been no better and the knowledge infinitely less. Out of death, life; an immutable truth” pg 281, elaborates more on learning from those who do not survive in the epitome of chaos and disruption. All the selected quotes and passages go along the lines of the themes; survival, fighting a faceless evil, and learning from tragedies.