On the Beach

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and analyzes the source text’s depiction of death by euthanasia in adults and children.

The novel opens with an epigraph from T. S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men”: “This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.” The characters in On the Beach are suspended between the end of a global nuclear war and their imminent death when the radiation reaches them, living in a world that is simultaneously pre- and post-apocalyptic. The novel uses this premise to examine how different people react in the face of uncontrollable disasters and how a person might carve out a meaningful existence without slipping into despair. Nevil Shute presents an apocalyptic situation that is absent from the stereotypical chaos of the genre (Eliot’s “bang”) and instead creates a world where the characters quietly accept their fate and resolve to continue their lives with dignity and pride until the end.

Characters like Peter and Mary Holmes find meaning in routine and traditional structures. Peter continues his naval career, even though he is keenly aware of its dwindling relevance. Mary, meanwhile, runs the household and cares for their infant daughter, convincing herself that nothing happening outside the home can harm her or her family.