Alas, Babylon.pdf

Alas, Babylon Context Pat Frank was a pen name adopted by the author Harry Hart, who was born on May 5, 1907 in Chicago. After attending the University of Florida in Gainesville for two years, Hart went to work as a reporter for the Jacksonville Journal. His career in journalism lasted through World War II, when he served as the chief of the Washington bureau of the Overseas News Agency, and then as a war correspondent in Eruope from 1944–46, where his work earned him a War Department commendation. After the end of the war, Frank gave up journalism to become a novelist. Drawing on his experience as a chronicler of politics and world affairs, he concentrated his writings on what were then the pressing issues in international relations, particularly the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In his first novel, Mr. Adam, an accident at a nuclear power plant leaves every male in the United States sterilized. The novel tells the story of the only man who escapes this fate, whose subsequent adventures provide a satire of American culture and politics. After the success of this novel, he wrote extensively on the Korean War (1950–53), and was appointed as a member of the U.N. mission to Korea in 1952. In 1956, he returned to the subject of nuclear weapons, this time with Forbidden Area, a novel dealing with U.S. governmental and bureacratic incompetence in the face of an imminent Soviet attack, which is only averted at the last moment. In 1959, at the height of tensions between America and the Soviet Union, Frank published Alas, Babylon, his most famous novel. The portrait of a small Florida town's efforts to cope with the aftermath of an all-out nuclear war is a work of science fiction, but at the time, with the arms race escalating into space, it seemed all too realistic. Harry Hart lived to see the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when his vision of nuclear conflict almost became a terrible reality. After the publication of Alas, Babylon, he continued to work as a writer, publishing countless articles and essays, and taking time to write How to Survive the H-Bomb, and Why, a book of advice for post-holocaust survival. From 1963–1964, he served as a consultant for the Department of Defense. He died on October 12, 1964, in Atlantic Beach, Florida.

Summary At the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, Mark Bragg, an officer in the Air Force, warns his brother Randy that nuclear war is imminent. Mark, who lives in Omaha, sends his wife, Helen, and his children, Ben Franklin and Peyton, to live with Randy in the isolated Florida town of Fort Repose. While he waits for them to arrive, Randy warns his friends, including his neighbors, the Henrys, and his girlfriend, Lib McGovern. He begins to stockpile food, and picks up Helen and her children at the airport, as the radio reports that tensions are escalating between the two superpowers. The next morning, war breaks out, and nuclear weapons destroy all of Florida's major cities. Washington is also destroyed, and a lowlevel Cabinet official becomes President. Having lost all power and communication with the rest of the country, Fort Repose is completely isolated. Disorder prevails in the small town. Randy's best friend, the local doctor Dan Gunn is beaten up by drug addicts, who ransack his clinic; the local police chief is killed; the bank president, Edgar Quisenberry, kills himself. But Randy and his friends, who all eventually come to live with him in his house on River Road, manage to survive and maintain a kind of order in their lives. Randy hooks up a supply of fresh water for his house and his neighbors, and the Henry farm provides food, as does the nearby river. Dan continues to travel around the town seeing patients, doing the best he can with limited medical supplies. A crisis occurs when he discovers that a number of people are suffering from radiation poisoning, acquired from irradiated jewelry that a man named Porky Logan brought back from near a contaminated city. Dan and Randy handle the crisis together. They collect the jewelry and bury it, along with Porky Logan's body, in a lead-lined coffin. When the townsfolk refuse to help bury the coffin, Randy brandishes a gun and forces them to do so. Randy's authority in the town becomes more and more respected. A radio announcement declares that former Army Reserve officers are to assume responsibility for martial law in isolated areas, and Randy is a former Reserve officer, so he begins to post decrees and take responsibility for law enforcement. When a group of bandits attack and brutally beat Dan Gunn, he collects a posse and hunts them down — on the same afternoon that he and Lib are married. He and his friend kill three of the bandits and hang the other, although his neighbor, Malachai Henry, is shot and dies. The town struggles through the summer, surviving a brief shortage of fish, and Randy solves a crisis involving a lack of salt. He combs the diary kept by his ancestor, who founded the town, and finds a reference to a nearby pool with a plentiful supply of salt. In autumn, government planes begin flying over the town, and a helicopter lands, carrying Paul Hart, a military man and friend of Randy's from before the war. He tells them that the country is still trying to restore basic services, and that centuries may pass before the contaminated regions become clean. He also confirms that Mark died in the war, meaning that Helen is free to marry Dan, with whom she has fallen in love. He offers to take them out of Fort Repose, but they all prefer to remain in the community they have rebuilt.

Characters Randy Bragg - The protagonist, and the descendant of an old Florida family. When the novel begins, he is a failed candidate for political office, living off his family's land and the occasional work as a lawyer in the small Florida town of Fort Repose. After the nuclear war, however, he becomes responsible for his brother Mark's family and the people who live around him. He eventually emerges as the leader of the entire town. Dan Gunn - Fort Repose's doctor, and Randy's best friend. A bitter divorce has left him disillusioned, but after the nuclear war, he becomes a hero, throwing himself into the difficult work of serving as a doctor to a community in turmoil. Elizabeth McGovern - Randy's girlfriend, and later his wife. A smart, resourceful, attractive woman, her parents have moved to Fort Repose from the North. After her mother dies of diabetes, she and her father, Bill McGovern, move in with Randy. Helen Bragg - Mark's wife, and the mother of Peyton and Ben Franklin. Her husband, fearing imminent war, sends her to Fort Repose from their home in Omaha, where she moves in with Randy on the day before war breaks out. Mark Bragg - Randy's brother, and an officer with the Strategic Air Command in Omaha. He warns his brother that nuclear war is imminent, and sends Helen and their children to live with Randy. He dies in Omaha during the first nuclear exchange—although Helen does not learn of his death for months. Malachai Henry - Randy's neighbor, who works a farm with his family. Bill McGovern - Lib's father. After his wife's death, he and Lib move in with Randy. Ben Franklin - Mark and Helen's son. He is thirteen when the war breaks out. Peyton - Mark and Helen's daughter. She is eleven when the war begins. Florence Wechek - Randy's neighbor, a gossipy older woman who runs the telegraph office in Fort Repose. Admiral Hazzard - A retired military man, he lives near Randy on the River Road, and operates a ham radio as a hobby. Rita Hernandez - A poor but beautiful woman who lives in the slum known as Pistolville. She is a former girlfriend of Randy. Alice Cooksey - The Fort Repose librarian, and Florence's best friend. Two-Tone Henry - Malachai's lazy brother, and Missouri's husband, called "Two-Tone" because his face has two shades of color. Missouri - Two-Tone's wife, she lives with him on the Henry farm, and cleans houses for a living. Edgar Quisenberry - The President of the Fort Repose bank. Preacher Henry - Malachai and Two-Tone's father. Paul Hart - An officer in the Air Force, stationed in Orlando, and a friend of Randy and Mark. Pete Hernandez - Rita's brother Porky Logan - The local representative to the state legislature, who defeated Randy for the office. A fat, greedy man, he dies of radiation poisoning from contaminated jewelry that he is hoarding. Lavinia McGovern - Lib's mother, who suffers from diabetes. Bubba Offenhaus - The owner of the local funeral parlor. Mrs. Josephine Vanbruuker-Brown - Formerly the Secretary of Health, Education and

Welfare, she becomes President of the U.S.A. after nuclear weapons wipe out Washington.

Chapters 1–2 Summary It is an ordinary December day in 1960, in the sleepy Florida town of Fort Repose. On the river road, Florence Wechek, the local Western Union telegraph manager, awakens and watches the morning news as she makes her breakfast. Tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States are high—the Russians are launching more Sputnik satellites, and there is a crisis in the Middle East—but as Florence leaves for work, she is more concerned with her neighbor, Randy Bragg, who she suspects of spying on her. Randy is a descendant of the founders of Fort Repose — a good-natured lawyer who failed as a politician and now makes his living off his family's property, and the occasional bit of legal work. As he drinks his morning coffee, he receives a telegram from his brother, Mark Bragg, an officer in the Air Force. The telegram asks to meet him at the local Air Force base at noon, says that Mark's wife Helen and his two children are flying into Orlando from their home in Omaha that night, and concludes with the cryptic postscript, "Alas, Babylon." Randy is suddenly frightened—"Alas, Babylon" is a private family signal, taken from the fire and brimstone sermons that were given at a local Black church in the Bragg brothers' youth. It means that Mark believes that nuclear war is imminent, and is sending his family to Fort Repose because he believes the town will be safer than Omaha, the site of the Strategic Air Command (SAC). Randy drives to Orlando, listening to news of international tension on the radio as he drives. Meanwhile, Florence Wechek is having lunch and sharing gossip with her friend Alice Cooksey, the Fort Repose librarian. Near the end of the meal, Florence mentions the telegram that Randy received that morning, with the cryptic phrase "Alas, Babylon" at the end. That afternoon, Alice looks up the reference in a Bible in her library, and finds the quotation in the Book of Revelation, referring to the destruction of a great city — "Alas, alas, that great city Babylon . . . for in hour is thy judgment come." Arriving at noon, Randy finds the Orlando Air Force base empty. Paul Hart, an ace pilot and a friend, tells him that most the planes are on standby near the Soviet Union, since they will have little warning if war breaks out. Mark arrives, greets his brother, and leads Randy into a back room. He tells him that the Russians are trying to take over the Mediterranean, and that they are willing to start a nuclear war, believing that their advantage in long-range missiles ("the gap," Mark calls it) will win the conflict for them. Then Mark gives Randy a check for five thousand dollars, and tells him to cash it and buy necessities. Mark is going back to Omaha, and SAC, and he begs Randy to take care of his wife and children, Peyton and Ben Franklin. The two brothers say goodbye, and Randy begins the long drive back to Fort Repose. Analysis Alas, Babylon speculates about America in the aftermath of a nuclear war. Because the threat of nuclear war has largely dissipated, Frank's novel can seem dated. However, it provides us with a look at the concerns of Americans in the late 1950s. Pat Frank's decision not to include dates with any of the events he describes is a way of suggesting that these events could happen at any

time. Nevertheless, the story is clearly set in the years around 1960, when the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union was at its height. There are references to the crises of 1957 and '58, which included a coup in Iraq, a Soviet attempt to blockade West Berlin, an American invasion of Lebanon, and a Soviet crackdown in Hungary. Pat Frank, through the character of Mark Bragg, attributes the arrival of war to two factors that were of great concern in the arena of global politics around 1960. The first is the Soviet Union's attempt to gain access to, and eventually dominate, the Mediterannean. By the early '60s, the arena of conflict had shifted to the Caribbean, where the Cuban missile crisis would bring the world as close as it ever came to Pat Frank's nightmare vision. But in the late '50s, Russian aggression in the Mediterranean seemed to pose the greatest danger to world peace. With this Soviet Mediterranean push as the motivating factor, Alas, Babylon uses the idea of a "missile gap" to provide the rationale for why the Soviets would start a nuclear war. According to this idea, which John F. Kennedy used in the 1960 presidential election, the Soviets had achieved an advantage in long-range missiles, which they could use to launch a surprise attack on the United States—an attack much like the one that takes place in the pages of this novel. These political concerns are of secondary importance in Alas, Babylon. They affect the story from time to time, but the story focuses primarily on ordinary people, in an ordinary town. The main character, who is introduced in these opening chapters, is representative of an average person who is suddenly forced to deal with an extraordinary situation.

Chapter 3–4 Commentary In Fort Repose, Randy cashes Mark's check at the local bank, although the bank president, Edgar Quisenberry, who dislikes the Bragg family, gives him some trouble. Then Randy makes his way to the supermarket, where he stocks up on foodstuffs, buying three hundred dollars worth of meat, coffee, and canned foods. His massive shopping spree draws murmurs from his fellow shoppers, and Randy suppresses an urge to shout at everyone and warn them what is coming. Instead, he takes his groceries home and warns one of his neighbors, Malachai Henry, that a war may be coming. The Henry family, which keeps a small farm beside the river, includes Malachai, Missouri, her husband Two-Tone, their father, Preacher. After Malachai leaves, Randy is visited by Elizabeth McGovern, his girlfriend, whose family moved to Florida from Cleveland. He tells her that Mark's family is coming to stay with him, and is about to tell her why, when Dan Gunn, the local doctor, shows up at the door. Dan wants to talk to Lib about her mother's diabetes, but Randy takes the opportunity to warn them both that a nuclear war may be on the way. Once they are convinced that he is not joking, Dan begins making a list of medical supplies he needs to order, and Lib goes home to warn her parents. Randy, meanwhile, goes birdwatching, following a parrot toward Florence Wechek's home, until Florence comes out and accuses him of spying on her. He begins to tell her about the impending war, but she slams the door in his face. The story shifts briefly to the eastern Mediterranean, where a United States fleet is being shadowed by enemy aircraft. Then it moves to the Omaha airport, where Helen Bragg gives an unhappy goodbye to her husband Mark and then takes her children, Peyton and Ben Franklin, on a plane to Orlando to meet Randy. In the Mediterranean, meanwhile, an American pilot pursues the enemy plane and fires on it — and misses, hitting a harbor in Syria, which is an ally of the Soviet Union. Back in Fort Repose, Randy goes to the McGovern house, where Lib lives with her parents. Neither parent likes Randy very much, and Bill McGovern accuses him of spreading scare stories. Bill insists that there are always rumors that war is going to come, but it never does, because the two sides always work things out. After leaving the McGoverns, Randy goes home to hear the radio report that Syria is accusing the United States of an unprovoked attack on their city. His brother, who is in "the Hole," the buried bunker at Strategic Air Command in Omaha, hears the same reports, and notes that Moscow is ominously silent. He hopes, desperately, that his wife reaches Orlando before war breaks out. His wish is granted. Helen arrives in Orlando with her children at 3:30 A.M. Randy picks her up and drives her back to Fort Repose. Meanwhile, the United States issues a statement that the Syrian incident was an accident. In the Hole, Mark convinces his commanding officer to receive authorization from the President to use their nuclear weapons. They receive the authorization, and a few moments later, they receive data that an object, perhaps a missile, has been fired from inside the Soviet Union. After a brief delay, four missiles appear on their screens, streaking toward the United States. War has begun.

Analysis The specter of war hangs over this part of the novel. Frank, unlike many writers of the period, is not interested in making arguments about the moral equivalency of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Russians are painted as villains. Their aggression paves the way for the conflict, and they fire the first nuclear missiles. But the author also demonstrates the role of chance in warfare, showing how a mistake by a foolhardy American pilot provides the spark that ignites the entire, world-changing conflict. As Frank puts it, "quite often the flood of history is undammed or diverted by the character and actions of one man." Meanwhile, we are introduced to the other characters who figure prominently in the postholocaust world. The Henry family appears, their friendship with Randy providing a model for the cooperation that will be necessary between blacks and whites in the wake of the disaster. Lib McGovern is Randy's a love interest. Lib's father's persistent refusal to believe that war is imminent can be read as a stinging critique of complacency among the American public. And finally, we meet Dan Gunn, Randy's best friend, who fills an important role after the disaster as a selfless, courageous doctor. With the arrival of Helen and her children, all the major characters are in Fort Repose.

Chapters 5–6 Summary In the house on the River Road, Randy, Helen, thirteen-year-old Ben Franklin, eleven-year-old Peyton are awakened by what feels like an earthquake. The earthquake turns out to be twin nuclear explosions, far south of them, in Miami and at the SAC base in Homestead. Clustered together outside the house, they see fighter jets soar overhead, and then a third nuclear explosion occurs, to the southwest, in the direction of Tampa-St. Petersburg. Peyton, who happens to be looking right at the explosion, is blinded by the burst of light. Randy hurries into town, looking for Dan Gunn. He passes a crashed car and a woman's dead body on the way, and finds Fort Repose in turmoil, with people crowding the stores and the gas station. The guests in the local hotel are milling about in confusion, and Randy finds Dan Gunn in one of the hotel rooms, seeing to a heart attack victim. Dan, hearing what happened to Peyton, says that she will probably be all right, and prescribes some eye drops and says that she should rest in a dark room. Randy hurries back to the river road, passing a gang of escaped convicts carrying guns, and a car carrying Florence and Alice. Florence makes her way to the telegraph office, where she deals with a long line of people trying to send messages&mdash most of which cannot be sent, since communication north of Jacksonville is forbidden. Edgar Quisenberry, the bank president comes in, and tries to wire to Jacksonville to ask for instructions from the Federal Reserve Bank there. However, as his message goes through, Jacksonville is wiped out by a nuclear weapon. Quisenberry returns to the bank, where a huge crowd shows up, wanting to withdraw money. After a time, the demand grows so great that he is forced to close the bank. He makes his way home, distraught by the collapse of the financial system. Unable to bear the idea of a world in which banks and money have ceased to exist, he shoots himself. Forever afterward, the first day of nuclear war would be known simply as "the Day" in Fort Repose. For Randy, listening to the radio in his home, the events seem difficult to understand, especially when the new "Acting President" of the United States comes on the radio. Washington has been destroyed, and with it, the President and the government have gone. The United States is now led by Mrs. Josephine Vanbruuker-Brown, formerly the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. In a speech, she reports that many major cities have been wiped out, but "that our reprisal was swift, and, from the reports that have reached this command post, effective." Later that night, Dan Gunn shows up to look at Peyton, who has been wearing a bandage over her eyes. When it is removed, her sight has begun to return. Dan has a drink with Randy, telling him that several people have already died or committed suicide, among them Edgar Quisenberry. Then the two men discuss the possibility of radiation poisoning. Fortunately, the prevailing winds have been blowing east, carrying the fallout toward the Atlantic Ocean. After Dan leaves, Randy visits his neighbor, Admiral Hazzard, a retired Navy officer. The Admiral owns a ham radio, and he has been monitoring signals during The Day, and trying to piece together the military situation. As he and Randy talk, Orlando, to the southeast, is hit with

a missile, and the lights go out in Fort Repose. Analysis Alas, Babylon largely a cautionary tale, and the immediate aftermath of the nuclear explosions is meant to demonstrate that the United states is completely unprepared for a nuclear attack. In Washington, the President, Cabinet, and Congress do not even have time to escape before the bombs fall. As a result, the government is turned over to a low-level Cabinet Secretary. Meanwhile, civil order breaks down in Fort Repose almost immediately. There are accidents and dead bodies on the highway, escaped prisoners wandering around with guns, and mobs in the stores and gas stations. There is no one to restore order; once communication with the outside world is cut off, no one is willing to take responsibility for the situation in the town. The novel also explores how individuals react to such a sudden shift in the way the world works. Randy rises to the occasion, remaining calm and planning what is best for the family. Likewise, Dan throws himself into his medical work to try to take control of the situation. The older women, Florence and Alice, acquit themselves, bravely making their way into work and carrying on with their jobs and lives despite the crisis. Their courage and their refusal to crack under the pressure is contrasted with the behavior of Edgar Quisenberry, who holds the bank together in the afternoon, but finally breaks down and kills himself when he realizes that money has suddenly become worthless. Dan delivers his epitaph: "Some people melt in the heat of crisis and come apart like fat in the pan. Others meet the challenge and harden." The Day begins and ends with nuclear explosions. The last one, incinerating Orlando, knocks out power in the town. "The lights went out," Frank writes, "and in that moment, civilization in Fort Repose retreated a hundred years." The image of darkness falling is a motif that recurs at the novel's close. It points to the extinguishing of the modern world, and the plunge into barbarism.

Chapters 7–8 Summary With the destruction of Orlando, Fort Repose loses power. In order to ensure a supply of clean water, Randy decides to run a pipe out to a nearby grove, where an artesian pump draws water up from the ground. He lays the pipe with the help of Malachai and Two-Tone Henry, and Helen begin to salt their meat, to prevent it from spoiling. Randy drives into town, in the hopes of finding some jars for Helen to use. The town is largely empty, with dangerous- looking young men lounging on street corners. In the grocery store, the clerk, Pete Hernandez, carries a gun. Pete reluctantly agrees to sell Randy two ten-pound bags of salt for two hundred dollars. At the clinic, Randy finds Dan amid a pile of ruined medicine bottles, with the local chief of police lying dead in a hallway. Dan tells him that a gang of drug addicts broke in, stole his morphine, and shot people at random. Randy convinces him to move in with them on River Road, and Dan reluctantly agrees. That night, while the Hanry family is over for dinner, a radio announcer reports the numerous parts of the United States that have been declared "Contaminated Zones." They include Omaha, where Mark was stationed (Helen still hopes that he is alive) and the entire state of Florida, meaning that Fort Repose is now completely isolated. On the sixth day after the attack, the local hotel burns to the ground. Three days after that, Lib McGovern's mother, Lavinia McGovern, dies of diabetes. Her supply of insulin is cut off by the war. Randy helps Lib and Bill McGovern bury her, and insists on inviting them to move into the house at River Road. Bill, feeling useless and old, reluctantly agrees. Four months pass. Coffee has vanished, tobacco can't be found, and a mild, gnawing hunger is a fact of life. Randy clumsily shaves with a hunting knife. The Henrys have been having trouble with predators stealing their animals, and Ben Franklin is appointed to carry a gun and serve as a guard for the barn and henhouse. Dan and Randy drive into town—they are down to the dregs of their gas. They use the Henrys' ancient Model-A Ford, because it is more fuel- efficient. Randy carries a pistol. Dan tells Randy that he has encountered several cases of radiation poisoning, and he cannot figure out why, since there isn't enough radiation in the Fort Repose air to cause it. While Dan visits the radiation victims, Randy goes to the park, which has become a gathering place for men trying to barter, and spends several fruitless hours trying to trade a bottle of Scotch for two pounds of coffee. Dan picks him up, and they drive out to the slum, known as Pistolville, where Pete Hernandez has radiation poisoning. His sister, Rita, still has feelings for Randy, and she tries to flirt with him, but to no avail. Then Dan notices a ring on her finger that has left a dark circle on the skin. He orders her to take it off — all her jewelry, it turns out, is radioactive, including the watches that Pete is wearing. Porky Logan, the local representative to the state legislature picked it up outside the ruins of Miami as he drove back to Fort Repose on the day of the attack. They hurry over to Porky's home, and find him dead on his bed. After making sure that the other radiation victims get rid of their jewelry, Dan and Rusty go home, resolving to bury Porky's corpse the next day.

Analysis The disorder in the town of Fort Repose contrasts the order that Randy and his friends manage to instill on the River Road. Cooperation, it becomes clear, is the key to survival. As the Henrys and Braggs work together, they are able to insure a supply of clean drinking water and food, taken from the Henry farm and the nearby river. Even as this is going on, the weeding out of the weak continues: just as Edgar Quisenberry was psychologically incapable of surviving after the disaster, Lib McGovern's insulin-dependent mother is physically incapable of surviving. In a way, her death, like the addicts' rampage through Dan Gunn's clinic, is a blessing in disguise for the other survivors, since it encourages everyone to move in together on River Road. This closeness improves the group's overall chances of survival. The primitive market on the town green illustrates how, in the post-war world, new customs develop. The demise of the cash economy means that the town of Fort Repose returns to the barter system that characterized human societies in primitive eras. Luxuries, like tobacco, coffee, and alcohol, become tremendously valuable, since there is no prospect of any of these items becoming available again. The discovery of the radioactive jewelry is at once a reminder of the continuing danger from nuclear fallout, and a miniature morality play. Instead of focusing on cooperation and survival, Porky Logan and the people to whom he gives jewelry are trying to profit off the disaster by accumulating riches. The radiation poisoning is their punishment for the sin of greed, as the beautiful objects are tainted.

Chapters 9–10 Summary Burying Porky Logan is difficult. Randy and Dan convince the local funeral parlor manager, Bubba Offenhaus, to let them use a lead-lined coffin to hold both Porky and his tainted jewelry, but the coffin requires eight men to carry it, and none of the people gathered on the green volunteer. Randy draws his gun and forces them to help with the funeral. Back on River Road, Two-Tone (so-called because the left and right sides of his face are different shades) and Bill McGovern rig up a still to make corn whiskey, or "moonshine," using parts scrounged from various automobiles. Meanwhile, on the radio, it is announced that any former officers in the Reserves or National Guard are ordered to assume responsibility for maintaining order in the Contaminated Zones. Randy is a Reserve officer, and he decides to assume legal authority in Fort Repose. Meanwhile, there are problems in his house, as Helen becomes briefly delusional and thinks that he is Mark, his brother and her husband, and tries to kiss him. Lib reassures him that this is a temporary insanity, brought on by the tremendous strain of everyday life after the day of the attacks. That night, Alice Cooksey (who now lives with Florence) puts together a beautiful dinner, using edible wild plants. But Dan is late coming home from town. Randy and Lib leave to look for him. They go to Admiral Hazzard's house, where they listen to various garbled news accounts on the Admiral's ham radio. The Admiral compares this disastrous war to the fall of the Roman Empire. Randy and Lib walk along the riverbank, where they talk about how much they love one another. Randy hears an alarm bell ringing from his house and rushes home. Rushing home, he finds that Dan has staggered in, bruised and bleeding. He is too weak to talk, so they feed him and let him rest. That night, Ben Franklin shoots the dog that has been menacing the Henrys' animals. Meanwhile, Dan recuperates. When he is well enough to talk, he recounts what happened to him. He says that as he was driving back from seeing a little girl ill with typhoid, he was ambushed, and a group of thugs took all his medical supplies and the car. They beat him savagely. Randy resolves to deal with the situation, in his capacity as local law enforcement officer. He and the Admiral decide that they need to set up an ambush for the "highwaymen." Going into town, he posts three official notices, declaring martial law, warning about the presence of typhoid germs in the river, and declaring that the penalty for "robbery or pillage" is hanging. Then he makes his way to Pistolville, and convinces Rita to allow him to borrow her grocery truck. She promises to put the word out that it was filled with goods for trade, and that someone stole it. He hopes that this rumor will put the highwaymen on the lookout for it. Returning home, he is met by Lib. "I wish we were married," he tells her, and she points out that under martial law, he makes the laws, so if he wants to grant himself a marriage license, he can. Easter is approaching, and they decide to get married on the holiday. Analysis

Having achieved a measure of order and security in his home, Randy begins to take responsibility for the community as a whole. With Dan as his ally, he takes charge of a potentially dangerous situation: the burial of Porky Logan's body. Significantly, he does not convince the men to bury Porky through reasoned argument or democratic process. He points a gun at them, and they obey, which illustrates the new reality in Fort Repose. Force matters more than good intentions. This new reality is also illustrated by the decision to allow thirteenyear-old Ben Franklin to carry a gun and defend the Henrys' farm. The announcement that men like Randy are to assume responsibility in the Contaminated Zones by declaring martial law, gives official sanction to Randy's power. The brutal attack on Dan is not only an attack on Randy's closest friend; it is an attack on legal order in Fort Repose. In a sense, the attack sets up a classic confrontation between a sherifffigure and bandits. Randy, like a fearless sheriff, is attempting to instill order in a savage place. Just as the western hero is trying to build America, he is trying to rebuild it. His decision to get married to Lib the same day he goes out to hunt the bandits is also reminiscent of westerns. Lib represents the safety of his home, River Road, which has never been directly attacked by the highwaymen. Randy has changed drastically since the beginning of the novel. Randy Bragg has lost his lackadaisical attitude and has become a genuine hero.

Chapter 11–13 Summary On Easter Sunday, Preacher Henry marries Randy and Lib with a bandaged Dan Gunn as best man. The marriage is performed under the auspices of Randy's recently published Order No. 4, which provides for marriage and birth certificates. Almost immediately after the wedding, Randy begins to make plans to ambush Dan's assailants. He charts out a route through Fort Repose and its surrounds, and plans to drive Rita's truck around, with Malachai, Admiral Hazzard, and Bill McGovern carrying guns in the back. At the last minute, Malachai points out that it will be more believable to have him, a black man, driving, and Randy reluctantly agrees. After cruising around, they realize that they are being herded toward a bridge where a car blocks the far end. Malachai stops the truck, and four men approach them, two from each side. Randy shoots one of the men in the front, and the other is taken prisoner, while Bill and the Admiral gun down the two bandits in back. In the brief gunfight, Malachai is hit in the chest, and is bleeding badly. Tying up the last surviving thug, they hurry home. Dan tries to operate on Malachai, but he dies before he can be cut open. The day after Malachai's death, the captured man in hanged in the public park. The same day, Randy takes volunteers for "Bragg's Troop," as the local lawkeeping force comes to be known. As summer arrives, the Admiral's ham radio finally short-circuits, cutting them off from communication with the outside world. Dan learns hypnosis, to help him with surgery in the absence of anesthetic, and he uses it to extract Ben Franklin's appendix when it becomes inflamed. Meanwhile, the crops begin to wither in the August heat, the fish stop biting, and the absence of salt threatens the survival of the town. They are saved when Randy searches the diary of his ancestor, Lieutenant Randolph Rowzee Peyton, who founded the town, and discovers a reference to a pool with a white beach of pure salt. An expedition returns with sacks of salt. Meanwhile, Peyton steals Florence's goldfish and poles out deep into the river, where she uses the goldfish as bait to catch large bass. The heat breaks, the fish begin biting again, and life returns to normal. That fall, a makeshift school is set up in town, and Dan delivers the first healthy baby conceived since the attacks. In November, he tells Randy that he wants to marry Helen, but that she won't agree to it until she knows for certain if Mark is still alive. That same month, a U.S. government helicopter lands, carrying men conducting surveys of radiation in the contaminated zones. The commander is Randy's old friend Paul Hart, and he tells them that Denver is now the U.S. capital, and that all the undamaged regions of the country are still trying to restore electric power and transportation. Other nations are shipping grain and fuel to America. He tells Helen that Mark did not survive the destruction of Omaha, and then goes on to say that all the cities hit with bombs may be radioactive for hundreds of years. He offers to take them all out of Florida in the helicopters, and everyone refuses, preferring to stay and help rebuild Fort Repose. Randy asks who won the war. Paul responds, "'You're kidding.&133; You mean you really don't know? &133; We won it. We really clobbered them!' [His] eyes lowered and his arms drooped.

He said, 'Not that it matters.'" Commentary Frontier justice, is the best phrase to describe how Randy and his friends handle the highwaymen. There is no attempt at arrest, prosecution, or trial by jury. Instead, the medieval penalty for crime is revived, and the only criminal to survive the shootout is hanged in a public place, to serve as a grisly warning to other would-be lawbreakers. Order and tranquility are not achieved without sacrifice, as the death of Malachai makes clear. In the months that follow, Randy slips into the role of Fort Repose's leader. His discovery of the hidden pool where salt can be gathered not only saves the town, but also links him to his pioneering forebear, who first carved Fort Repose out of the wilderness. Randy's use of his diary makes the connection between the two men obvious—both are in the business of building civilization out of chaos. Life has continued in the rest of the United States over the long months that Fort Repose has been cut off, and at the end of the novel, the appearance of Paul Hart gives a brief sketch of the big picture. In contrast to some novels dealing with nuclear war, Alas, Babylon does not portray the U.S.A. being wiped out entirely. The absurdity of the entire "war" is summed up in Raul's parting comment — America "won," by blowing the Russians off the map, but the price of victory was so high that victory ceased to matter. With Paul gone, the image of darkness recurs, symbolizing the end of civilization and the triumph of barbarism. "The engine started," Frank writes, "and Randy turned away to face the thousand-year night." But in a sense, the message of the book contradicts this final pessimistic image, since in their small way, Randy and the other people of Fort Repose have carved out their own piece of civilization as a bulwark against the darkness.

Analysis Alas, Babylon is a novel bound to a specific time and place. It describes the peak of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It tells the story of a war that did not happen, a destructive nuclear struggle that nearly destroys civilization in the United States. The arrival of war is attributed to two factors: Soviet Union's attempt to gain access to, and eventually dominate, the Mediterannean, and the idea of a "missile gap" that gives the Russians an advantage in missile technology and leads them to attempt a surprise attack on the United States. But these political concerns are of secondary importance in Alas, Babylon. They enter the story in the person of Mark Bragg, who first explains the situation to his brother Randy, and after the war, the outside world appears only in the form of occasional radio broadcasts. But the novel is ultimately more interested in ordinary people than in international politics. The narrative focuses on the small town of Fort Repose, Florida, and how its residents deal with a remarkaable new situation. In this sense, this seemingly frightening and apocalyptic novel can actually be called optimistic. Its tone contrasts sharply with much of post-apocalyptic fiction, in which nuclear war either wipes out the entire population of earth or reduces humanity to a savage, Stone Age existence. Order collapses in Fort Repose, but over the course of the novel it is gradually restored, largely through cooperation and friendship between the main characters, all of whom are sympathetic figures. Racism, for example, is hinted at early in the novel, but never seems to become a problem after the war. Conflict between the main characters is almost nonexistent—danger comes from outside, from shadowy, one-dimensional drug addicts and gangsters. By the end of the novel, Fort Repose has weathered a number of crises involving food shortages, radiation poisoning, and crime, and it has become a reasonably pleasant place to live again. So pleasant, in fact, that when an offer arrives to helicopter some people to a safer part of the country, it is turned down, as the characters prefer to remain and continue rebuilding their home. In addition to this optimistic view of the human spirit, Alas, Babylon also offers optimism on a smaller scale, in the person of the protagonist, Randy Bragg. When we first meet Randy, he is a likable man in decline, having failed in his attempt to run for political office. Since his defeat, he is sliding through life. He has no real job, and lives off the profits from his family land. He has taken to drinking before breakfast. In the aftermath of the nuclear war, however, Randy changes drastically, and his decision to take responsibility for his family and friends is a critical part of Fort Repose's climb toward order and civilization. With the heroic doctor Dan Gunn, Randy works first to build a safe, sustainable community for his family and neighbors on River Road, and then uses his authority as an officer in the Army Reserve to assume responsibility for law and order throughout Fort Repose, dealing with outlaws and keeping the peace. He becomes a kind of classic American hero—the reluctant sheriff who assumes responsibility for law and order in a frontier town.

Questions for Study Discuss the parallels between Alas, Babylon and the traditional western. In American film and literature, the western is traditionally the story of how a wilderness was turned into a civilized country. The western hero is a figure of order and justice, a sheriff brings law to an isolated community. Fort Repose may not be a frontier town when the novel begins, but the collapse of civilization following the nuclear attacks rapidly places it on the frontier, and allows lawlessness to take over. This transition is symbolized by the deaths of such authority figures as the police chief and the bank president, and the repeated attacks on the local doctor, Dan Gunn. Randy Bragg, in his capacity as an Army Reserve officer, is the sheriff figure of Alas, Babylon. He is a classic reluctant hero, with a new wife waiting for him at home, but he nevertheless does the right thing, by gathering a posse and going after the villains. There is even a shootout reminiscent of classic westerns, in which Randy's men deal with the bandits and hang the sole surviving robber. Is Alas, Babylon an optimistic novel? Why or why not? Certainly, disastrous, tragic events take place in Alas, Babylon—cities are wiped out and millions of people are killed in a pointless conflict. But the message of the novel contrasts with much of post- apocalyptic fiction, in which nuclear war either wipes out the entire population of earth or reduces humanity to a savage, Stone Age existence. In Alas, Babylon, order breaks down in Fort Repose, but over the course of the novel it is gradually restored, largely through cooperation and friendship between the main characters. The villainous characters are drug addicts and gangsters who appear only briefly, and the inhabitants of Fort Repose are presented as good, decent people doing their best in an extraordinary situation. By the end of the novel, they have restored law and order, and have successfully overcome a number of crises involving food shortages, radiation poisoning, and crime. When an offer arrives to take some of them out of Florida it is turned down, as the characters prefer to remain and continue rebuilding their home. It is difficult to see this celebration of friendship and community as anything but the optimistic message that even in adversity, the human spirit survives. What is the role of the female characters in the novel?. Analyze the political events that the novel portrays leading up to a nuclear exchange. Is it convincingly portrayed? Discuss the aftermath of "The Day." How does the novel portray the breakdown of order? Why does Edgar Quisenberry commit suicide? What does his death illustrate? What are the symbolic roles of the image of darkness, and the radioactive jewelry, in the story? What is the novel's political message?

Review Questions During what conflict does Alas, Babylon take place? (A) World War II (B) The Cold War (C) The Gulf War (D) World War I Randy Bragg lives on what street? (A) Main Street (B) River Road (C) Bragg Lane (D) Repose Street Florence Wechek works at the (A) Bank (B) Doctor's office (C) Telegraph office (D) Town hall Mark Bragg is a(n) (A) Aide to the President (B) Professor of international affairs (C) Ambassador to the Soviet Union (D) Officer in the Air Force Mark's wife is named (A) Peyton (B) Helen (C) Rita (D) Lib Randy's girlfriend, at the time the novel begins, is named (A) Lib (B) Helen (C) Rita (D) Alice Who of the following does not live on River Road? (A) The Henrys

(B) Rita Hernandez (C) Admiral Hazzard (D) Florence Wechek Dan Gunn is a (A) Lawyer (B) Banker (C) Air Force pilot (D) Doctor Residents of Fort Repose refer to the day that nuclear war begins as (A) "The Day" (B) "Atom-Day" (C) "D-Day II" (D) "Day of Fire" When it becomes clear that money will soon be worthless, Edgar Quisenberry (A) Shoots himself (B) Burns down the bank (C) Shoots his wife (D) Drives into the path of the fallout After the destruction of Washington, _____ takes over as President of the U.S.A. (A) Mark Bragg (B) Mrs. Josephine Vanbruuker-Brown (C) Admiral Hazzard (D) Douglas MacArthur The destruction of what city knocks out power in Fort Repose? (A) Atlanta (B) New York (C) Miami (D) Orlando Lib McGovern's mother dies of (A) Diabetes (B) Radiation poisoning (C) A gunshot wound (D) Cancer Who does not move in with Randy in the aftermath of the nuclear war?

(A) Lib McGovern (B) Rita Hernandez (C) Dan Gunn (D) Bill McGovern Porky Logan transmits radiation poisoning to several people in Fort Repose by selling them contaminated (A) Food (B) Gasoline (C) Jewelry (D) Alcohol In order to get people to help with Porky Logan's burial, Randy (A) Offers them money (B) Offers them alcohol (C) Threatens them with a gun (D) Threatens to leave the body on the town green Helen has a moment of temporary insanity, in which she thinks that Randy is (A) God (B) Dan Gunn (C) Mark (D) Her son Which character owns and operates a ham radio? (A) Admiral Hazzard (B) Randy (C) Rita Hernandez (D) Edgar Quisenberry Randy takes charge of law enforcement in Fort Repose because (A) He is a Reserve officer (B) He has the most guns (C) Bandits kill Peyton (D) The townspeople elect him Which character gets beaten up by robbers? (A) Randy (B) Dan Gunn (C) Lib (D) Admiral Hazzard

On Easter Sunday, Randy marries (A) Rita (B) Helen (C) Florence (D) Lib Who gets killed in the shootout with the robbers? (A) Bill McGovern (B) Randy (C) Malachai (D) Admiral Hazzard What happens to the sole surviving robber? (A) He is hanged (B) He is given a trial by jury and sentenced to life in prison (C) He is exiled from Fort Repose (D) He kills himself How does Randy find a supply of salt? (A) By taking salt-sniffing dogs into the swamp (B) By consulting the diary of an ancestor who founded Fort Repose (C) By breaking into an abandoned warehouse (D) By finding a route to the sea Who shows up in a helicopter at the end of the book, and who does he tell them won the war? (A) Mark; the U.S.A. (B) Paul Hart; the Soviet Union (C) Mark; the Soviet Union (D) Paul Hart; the U.S.A.

Further Reading Frank, Pat. Alas, Babylon. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.

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Table of Contents Chapter 3–4 Chapter 11–13