Family Quotes in On the Beach

Raising a family in the wake of a nuclear apocalypse is no walk in the park, people. And that goes double when the man of the house is forced to go on several months-long submarine trips across the planet. As you can already see, the Holmes family is stuck in a tough spot.

In contrast to Peter, Dwight is tortured by his lack of family. His wife and two children had been home in Connecticut when the war broke out, which almost certainly means that they were killed in the bombing. Despite this, he treasures their memory as if they were still alive and thinks of them when the going gets tough.

At times, it's almost as if Dwight believes that his family is still alive, which is sometimes charming and sometimes unsettling. We're not quite sure where we land on the issue, but there's no debating how important Dwight's family is to him, no matter what the situation is.

This must be an incredibly difficult moment for Peter. In case this isn't ringing any bells, this is the scene when Peter first visits the chemist to buy the red pills for his family. Yikes. We can't even imagine how we'd feel being in his position.

This is obviously untrue, but Mary is actually reacting to how unfair the situation is. She knows in her heart that Peter deeply cares for both her and Jennifer, and that belief will shine through in the end. We hope so, at least.

This is another example of Dwight's delusional beliefs about his family—he buys them presents because he thinks they will be reunited in the near future. Dude's straight off his rocker. Or, well, probably not: this is likely just a coping mechanism. Of course he knows there's no hope.

Moira becomes so close to Dwight that she feels as if she knows his family. But it's something more than that. Because she's similar in age to Dwight's wife, Sharon, Moira looks to her as an example of a life she could've lived, if only she had gotten the chance.

Wow. Although Peter frequently criticizes Mary for being delusional, she proves that she understands things perfectly well thankyouverymuch. Family is the most important thing in her life, and she'd give anything to keep hers together.

Once again, Mary surprises us with her strength. Instead of dwelling on fate and mourning Jennifer's poor health, she'd rather remember her daughter as she was when she was happy and healthy. This is a gut-wrenching situation, but Mary makes the best of what she is given.

Oh, man—here come the tears. Although Mary and Peter get into plenty of fights over the course of the novel, their relationship is kind of heartwarming, even for a bunch a snarky schmucks like us.