Alas Babylon Character Analysis

In Alas, Babylon, the main protagonist, Randy Bragg, lived an easy-going life. “With his share, plus dividends from a trust fund established by his father, and his occasional fees as an attorney, Randy lived comfortably” (Frank 12). His life isn’t very believable though since it was simply luck that he not only got money from his father’s trust fund, but inherited a sizeable amount of land that produced thousands of dollars’ worth of citrus. Plus, it’s not common for people to have to rarely work like Randy does. However, his way of life is completely changed after The Day, and he is forced to go to extreme lengths to keep himself and those close to him alive and well.
With Randy housing many family members and friends after The Day, many trials began to ensue. Randy’s fast-thinking preparation before The Day proved to be a life-saver when it came to getting money from the bank and stocking up on food. However, his trading skills failed when he was in desperate need of salt, which led to everyone

feeling weak due to lack of salt. In the end, he used his sharp resourcefulness to not only get the salt, but to provide crabs, fish, and even radio power so they could hear news about the war. Randy’s leadership also proved to be a key survival tool. He took care of his family and neighbors and eventually stepped up to protect the whole town. Without doing so, the highwaymen would’ve continued to steal and kill innocent people.
Throughout Alas Babylon, many themes are seen, and the most obvious one is survival.

After The Day, everyone recognizes the need to prepare in order to survive, and therefore stock up on food, gas, and even weapons. The whole town of Fort Repose eventually realizes the hardships of survival, especially after the highwaymen become a threat. This leads to another theme which is leadership. Randy and many others get together and agree they must protect everyone in the town. They realize since the government is struggling, and nobody is coming to their aid anytime soon, they must step up to defend and provide for their town. Another evident theme that is seen in all the characters is self-discovery. Randy goes from a carefree, easy life alone to a developed leader, Ben Franklin proves he’s becoming a confident, trustworthy young man, and Dan Gunn, who lost his motivation to help the sick in other countries, finds his mission to take care of the people of Fort

Repose.
Throughout the passage in chapter seven, the setting plays a big role. It first affects the story when Randy and his neighbors are working to get artesian water piped into his house. If it weren’t for him being on the fertile land that required the water, they would’ve suffered from lack of water. Then, the fact that Fort Repose was in the heavily targeted state of Florida caused them to lose electricity fast due to the loss of rail systems and tankers that delivered oil and other supplies. This led to the loss of butter, ice cream, and other refrigerated or frozen foods.
Many devices are used in the passage to impact the story. The detail about Randy remembering the last time he worked so hard was in Korea and about the blisters on his hands emphasizes how hard he and the other men had to work. Then, after the electricity has been out a while, the metaphor “… several hundred pounds of choice and carefully wrapped meat floating in a noxious sea of melted ice cream and liquefied butter” (Rand 151) is used to stress just how much of a loss the meat is and how despairing the situation is. Another metaphor is used when Sam Hazzard describes “… what had been great ports were now great, water-filled craters” (Rand 152). This gets across just how devastating the enemy missiles and bombs can be, and how the loss of electricity and supply shipments will continue for a while due to the destruction of ports. The last part of the passage uses imagery to create an image of all the Fort Repose buildings still standing, but the character of the town and all the people in it have been altered.