Johansen- Hewitt 1

Emma Johansen-Hewitt
Essay #1
Post-apocalyptic Literature
March 8, 2014
Alas, Babylon: Willful Naivety
In 1959, the thing many people feared most was a nuclear holocaust. While the idea of a
full blown nuclear holocaust seems incredibly unlikely these days, Pat Frank published a book in
the midst of the fear, that offered a hypothetical glimpse into what life would be like if America
was drawn into a nuclear firefight.
Pat Franks Alas, Babylon is an interesting addition to the genre of post-apocalyptic
literature. Frank himself does not seem fully aware of the realities of human nature, the way
humans react in crisis. Frank also seems to ignore the true impact of a crisis on the scale of a
nuclear holocaust. There were many holes in Franks narrative, although perhaps the holes in his
work tell us something important about how Frank saw, or rather wanted to see the world handle
a nuclear crisis.
The first, and most obvious of the books shortcomings is that Pat Frank seems to not fully
grasp the true scale of a nuclear holocaust. During a nuclear holocaust, everything in the
contamination zone, which they were in, is compromised. The soil, the water, the animals,
themselves. No food is truly safe to consume without risking further radiation poisoning. In the
novel, however, the residents drank the water, which they claimed was far enough underground
not to be affected by the radiation. The water, or at least the pumps they used to obtain the water,

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were likely highly contaminated with radiation. However, even if the water was clean, they were
fishing, and eating the fish from the river. The fish most certainly would have been contaminated
with radiation poisoning, and would have at least made the individuals who consumed them sick.
Frank allows his characters to continue on in a world that is certainly not at the severity of what
the world would truly be after a nuclear holocaust.
When Frank wrote the novel, the world was still very much under nuclear threat. Barely a
decade before he published his book, the United States dropped their nuclear bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S. and Russia were on the brink of the cold war. The pubic had
seen the sheer devastation of nuclear weapons, and there was a lingering fear that lay over the
world: what if it happens again? What if it happens close to me? Frank, it appears by observing
his work, struggled with this question. Perhaps he was not so much naive about the realities of a
nuclear holocaust, but rather rejected the reality. Pat Frank, as a person living through the
nuclear scare, needed to reassure himself that if crisis struck, and America was bombed, that
things would be more or less okay. He wrote a novel in which you had clean water and fish that
you could safely eat, a world in which humanity could go on. While this is a far cry from reality,
perhaps Frank needed to believe this.
The work, as whole, seems rather inauthentic. In addition to the inaccuracy with which he
portrayed the aftermath of the nuclear holocaust, the characters seemed somewhat shallow, and
lacking in dimension and humanity. One of the biggest points, as referenced during lecture
discussions, was the lack of sex. Humans sex drive does not go away during crisis. It is said that
people think about sex every seven seconds. While this statistic may not be true or perfect, there
is truth behind the idea: humans are very sexual creatures. Frank seemed to ignore the topic,

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making the characters seem that much less human. One must, however, consider the time at
which the book was published. In 1959 there was nothing like 50 Shades of Grey on shelves
being publically accepted. What novels that dealt with sex did exist likely faced criticism for
doing so, and were not well received by the public. So while Franks characters seemed not to
think about or talk about sex nearly enough for realism, there is a chance it was not an oversight
by Frank, but rather a sign of the times and audience it was written for.
The narrative, unlike many others in the post-apocalyptic genre, starts off before the
apocalyptic event. The start is slow and dry, a difficult read to get through. The novel, however,
does pick up. The book, while cursed with a stale beginning, gains something from the fact that it
started slightly before the apocalypse. The novel gives you a glimpse inside the life of the
characters prior to having their lives changed by the nuclear holocaust. Traveling with them from
before gives you a unique insight to how they change as people, how their lives have changed
from before to after.
Perhaps, however, how the characters dont change as people is another shortcoming of
the book. The characters seem to be too nice to each other for having gone through such a crisis.
Neighbors still are, more or less, helping neighbors. Based on past crisis, we know this doesnt
really hold that much truth. Far more often than not, humans will fend for themselves rather than
helping others.
Furthermore, the amount of normalcy they are able to maintain is astonishing. For
example, Helen says to Randy Todays your haircut day, Randy. Todays Friday. (p 221).

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During the nuclear holocaust, it is dubious that anyone would be terribly concerned with their
appearance, never mind getting their hair cut weekly.
Franks novel is signifigantly less dystopian than other works within the genre, especially
those popular today. The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games, Oryx and Crake, and other novels
similarly about a post-apocalyptic world are far less hopefully about the state of mankind after a
crisis. This lack of dystopia could be seen as a misunderstanding of the severity of the situation.
It could, however, also be seen as a willful ignorance on the part of the author. Frank lived in a
world where the threat of this happening was very real. It is not beyond the realm of possibility
that Frank simply wanted, perhaps needed, to create and to see a world where things were
somewhat okay, life could go on.
Occasionally, however, the novel had its moments of believability, where it admitted the
severity of the situation and the possibility that they could not survive like this forever. One such
instance is when Peyton yells If I grow up Im not going to be a fisherman! Randy is taken
aback by this. The conversation continues, Did you ever hear a little girl say If I grow up
before? No, I never did. It gives me the creeps. Not their fault, Randy said. Ours. (p 225).
This exchange admitted the fact that there might not be a way out of the apocalypse, a fact that
the rest of the novel seemed to shy away from.
Randy himself, as a character, is reminiscent of the heroes of American westerns, taking
on the responsibility of maintaining law and order. The American western hero is a huge
television trope, used over and over again to assert a somewhat fake sense of power and security.

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This adds to the sense of fakeness that this book gives off. It almost seems as if it is propaganda,
idolizing the hero.
Despite its short comings, Alas, Babylon has true and lasting artistic integrity. As A.C.
Grayling, a philosophy professor at the University of London, put it, Art is one major form of
response to the world. Art is a way of putting into words what we see and feel. Living in a
world where suddenly entire cities can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, Pat Frank reacted in
the way he knew how. Frank showcased his fear and insecurities about his own safety by making
a world in which he would safe.
Alas, Babylon is considered by many to be a classic. Whether it deserves this honor is
certainly debatable. While it remains a book of substance, and a reaction to the times, the book
itself is rather flat, and no longer seems to be the type of book that a wide audience can relate to,
nor would they want to return to the book over and over. It offers an interesting point of view
into how those facing direct nuclear threat saw the world, and for that alone the book has merit
as a work that should be studied.
Now, in 2015, the cold war is over, and while we are having issues with ISIS, North
Korea and Iran, there is no imminent danger. The idea of an atomic bomb being dropped
anywhere near the United State seems so far away in this day and age. There are far too many
holes in the plot of this narrative for it to be totally relevant for current generation. The novel
does, however, have some timeless aspects such as the trope of the American western hero, and
the perseverance of a people after great tragedy.

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Although it had its moments, Alas, Babylon is a story with many, many holes that need
to filled in order for the work to be a believable representation of the nuclear holocaust. At best,
the novel grants an insight into the fears of the time, the very dark reality that loomed over the
world as the end of days seemed far too close.