Duty Quotes in On the Beach

Although he's not as hardcore as Dwight Towers, Peter Holmes feels a great sense of fulfillment when he's at work. When he's stuck at home, all he can do is worry about his family's potentially disastrous future. At work, however, he feels like he's actually making a difference.

Although she's just met Dwight, Moira hits the nail on the head with this one. In fact, we're pretty sure that Dwight would go straight-up insane if he didn't have his job to keep him in check.

Dwight doesn't merely feel a sense of duty toward his profession—he also feels it in regards to his family. Although his wife and children were almost certainly killed during the war, he still uses them as an excuse for why he can't get into a relationship with Moira.

Looks like Dwight isn't the only person who clings to a deluded sense of duty. Just check this one out: this quote comes from a doctor talking about the long-term benefits of surgery, despite the fact that his patient will be dead long before those benefits are realized.

Give us a break, Dwight—you'd be sticking to the rules like white on rice no matter where you were. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. By hewing so closely to the rules, Dwight is able to keep his mind off the depressing fate of his homeland and retain his sanity.

So what do you think about this? Do you think that it's delusional for Dwight to act as if his family were alive and well? Or do you think that it's an idealistic notion that represents his powerful sense of duty toward the people he loves? If you're asking us (and you'd better be, punks…just kidding), the truth of the situation lands somewhere between these differing viewpoints.

Dwight stays as straight as an arrow until the bitter end. As much as we respect him for this, it does drive us a little crazy sometimes. Like, would it hurt the dude to let his hair down and have a "Treat Yo' Self Day" before the end of the world?

See what happens when Dwight doesn't have a goal to work toward? In addition to the above, he also alludes a few times to a brief period after the war when he indulged in enough hard partying to put Weezy to shame. Let's just hope he never slips back there again.

We have to admit that this is pretty awesome, even if we'd be ticked off if we were in the shipmates' shoes. It takes a lot of chutzpah to fire your employees just days before the official end of the world, but, as we well know, that's one thing Dwight has in spades.

Dwight stays true to his duty as a naval officer even in death. As usual, however, this decision can either be seen as emotionally moving or completely foolhardy depending on your perspective.