Mortality Quotes in On the Beach

Although everyone is pretty sure that the end will come in September, there's a small chance that it could happen earlier than expected. That's a scary thought. It's even scarier when you realize that Peter Holmes could still be at sea aboard Scorpion when it all goes down, leaving his family to fend for themselves.

This is a quote from Moira's dad, Mr. Davidson, by the way. He makes a good point: in fact, everyone pretty much carries on like it's business as usual until reality becomes impossible to deny. But who can blame them? After all, it's not every day that you have to face the prospect of nuclear annihilation.

Once again, Mr. Davidson drops some serious knowledge on the much younger (and much less mature) main characters. Because he's already had a full life to live, he's less worried by the thought of death—after all, the Grim Reaper would have been coming for him soon enough, anyway. That's a far cry from Moira, Peter, Dwight, and the rest of the gang.

It's one thing to deal with death as an abstract concept, but it's a whole different thing to have to think about mercy-killing your newborn child. We can't blame Mary for being so repulsed by this idea, but she eventually realizes that it might be the most humane option for the family.

Oh, man. This one is so rough that we can hardly think about it. Peter and Mary don't have that luxury, however, and must make this life-or-death decision sooner or later. Still, we don't envy them being in such a gut-wrenching situation.

And then, just like that, the end is here (Shute sure was right about it being a whimper, huh?). That's actually one of the most frightening things about death in On the Beach: it's impossible to see, yet it's impossible to escape.

Well, that...doesn't make us feel better at all. While we're all big fans of our furry friends, we can't help but feel that earth will be a little lonely without humans trampling on its surface and polluting its oceans. Actually, now that we think about it, the earth might be better off.

As the end draws closer, the city itself seems to die. It's a prelude to the calamity that will strike Melbourne in a matter of days. But there's more: now that the prospect of death is real, everyone is now focused on making the most of what little time is left.

This is a bit hard to swallow, but it's the truth. There have always been accidents. There has always been sickness. There has always been death. Although Peter and Mary never have thought in a million years that they'd die from nuclear radiation, they always knew that they'd die sometime. Unless they happen to be vampires, of course—which, you know, would greatly alter our interpretation of the story.

If nothing else, we hope that the radiation-immune rabbits of Australia will eventually attain consciousness and rise to the top of the food chain, creating rabbit cities and eventually constructing a rabbit colony on the surface of the moon. Hey—we can dream, can't we?