Tennessee Williams 'The People Of Sand And Slag' By Paolo Bacigalup

While the Industrial Revolution was beneficial to the people of the world, our greed of leading a luxurious life is continuously destroying the environment. Throughout The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi, a novelette and “The Chalky White Substance” by Tennessee Williams (a play), the intended focus is to show the destruction caused by the human species and imply a future the entire population is heading towards. Both pieces of literature imply a common ending for the population: mass extinction due to the abuse of the environment. In “The Chalky White Substance,” Williams shows the effect of wars on, not only the land but the people of the world. He does this by providing stage directions and dialogue between two male figures known as Luke and Mark.

The thermonuclear war has, like expected left marks on, not only the environment but the people too. The impacts are revealed in the characters’ discussion. The discussion of the damage can be categorized as immediate effects and long-term effects. One of the most immediate effect is the death of many people, be it soldiers, doctors or family members as mentioned in “Now women are so much fewer than men…” (Williams, P.468) indicating that the majority of the female population is dying off. Also immediate is the effect on the land such as “…sky that is cloudless and yet faintly blurred by tiny granules of something like old powdered bones….” (Williams, P.467) signifying that the sky cannot be seen clearly because dust and particles have flown into the sky due to the dropping of nuclear weapons. “There’s little food, and even less water” can be considered a long-term effect since the war destroys all crops and edible items in stores. The