Nima's Page

On the Beach, Nevil Shute

 Question:

Could the events that happened in this novel happen in our world today ?

Answer:

        In Nevil Shute's On the Beach, the northern hemisphere is destroyed by nuclear bombs. Meanwhile, the nuclear dust is being carried down by the wind and is slowly killing off everything. It is the end of mankind and everything which exist on our planet. During the six month duration of this book, you see an up close view of the moments of these people's lives. I think that if a world war begins in our world, it will inevitably lead to a nuclear war and the end all beigns on earth. In this case, the novel will have had depicted the events which would be occuring. There are several reasons why I think so. Firstly, we live in a world were the fight for oil and water are becoming more and more brutal. Secondly, many humans beings have enormous hatred for one other, such as terrorist for the United States of America. 

        In the fight against water and oil there are many tensions being created in the world. In underdeveloped countries, there is no running water, and therefore conflicts occur daily. It is not an underestimation to say that if either side of these conflicts obtained nuclear weapons, they would threaten the opposing side to it.  If nuclear bombs went off, it would be disastrous to these countries. If enough information leaked out, many of these sides would make the bomb and this would result in a nuclear war. If we do not find a realiable source of energy, the war for oil will continue. In a desperate attempt, countries would attack others for their last ressources. This attack would slowly progress into a nuclear war. In the end, many countries would attack each other with these bombs, and nuclear dust would fill our world, killing everything.

         Terrorism in an important part of the lives of the people in a superpower. In the United States of America, terrorism is important threat. They are hated by many people and they would attack them at any oppertunity presented. Taking the example of September 11, I would not hesistate to say that terrorists would attack the USA if they could get the chance of obtaining a nuclear bomb.

         In conclusion, given the evidence presented, I would say nuclear bombs would destroy the planet in the appropiate surcumstances. If we could avoid these situations, there is much possibility that this event would not happen.