On the Beach redux

​The COVID-19 Event and Literary Insight


Several years ago, I came across a reference to the 1957 novel, On the Beach by Nevil Shute. Considering the novel’s premise based on a review, I was so struck by its relevance to current times that I bought the ebook. World events have prompted me to consider its message on many occasions. Lately, I’ve thought much about it. In a nutshell, the story is about people facing approaching death from the aftermath of a nuclear war with no sense as to why the war was even fought. The story is simply told, though powerful in its simplicity. Two movies were made from it.

I think of it now because current conditions feel apocalyptic. Dystopian forces look to be reaching openly into society like roaches leaving their crannies to feed in the light. The roaches are the world’s authority structures. Their food is our life and freedom, taken in the name of protecting us. What they give the survivors is 24X7 surveillance, restrictions on movement, and much fewer options in life.

Those who see it, seem to just sit and watch. Maybe, like the characters in On the Beach, they are trying to make the most of their remaining time. They love those around them and indulge those pursuits that have real meaning. They would rather proclaim their love for beauty, family, friendship, and learning, and die in the indulgence of these, than to give into despair. Such despair is the only offering from those powers who see destroying the world as a reasonable consequence of their desire to be God.

And so I think a reread of On the Beach is in order. There is a strange comfort in such. Like rereading Orwell’s 1984 and observing how eerily it describes modern life. Does such comfort come from knowing the true nature of the killer blow coming at you? Thomas Merton speaks to that in his essay, Letter to an Innocent Bystander found in his book, RAIDS on the Unspeakable. He questions simply by-standing in the face of provocation, saying:

I am no longer certain that it is honorable to stand by as the helpless witness of a cataclysm, with no other hope than to die innocently and by accident, as a non-participant. (Merton)

Anyway, I recommend reading On the Beach and considering its message. How would you react in the face of steadily approaching extinction? Is that what we’re facing now? You can find my review of the novel, here .

This journal entry may seem harsh and too dark in a time when we need to encourage one another. I can get behind encouraging friends and neighbors, but not the offering of pseudo-encouragement wrapped in saccharine delusion. I can’t get through the day that way. My stronger desire is to know the truth.

I mentioned RAIDS on the Unspeakable which is a book written by the Christian scholar and monk, Thomas Merton, in the 1960s. I am reading it now and finding amazing insight in it. Maybe some comfort. I’ll come back to that.