Alas Babylon Sparknotes

Shaun Hick once said, “You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun.” This is especially true in the novel Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. To clarify, the book is set around the 1950’s and 60’s, when Russia and the U.S.A are going through a feud. The war ends up severely damaging the United States. In the shambles of Florida, a town by the name of Fort Repose stands strong and the people must strive to survive. The book centers on the protagonist of the story, Randy Bragg, and his family. In order to learn to walk again, the people of Fort Repose trade within each other, preserve and disinfect food and water, and use weapons for protection.
To begin with, the people of Fort Repose learn to walk again by learning to trade with other people. For example when Randy wants coffee the only solution is

to trade with someone else. Pat Frank writes, “The Park [has] become the barter center of Fort Repose” (190). If the people of Fort Repose did not have this center, they would only have the items they had before the day and thus, not survive. With the center established, the people can be safe and cooperative in one area with no worries; In this case the center is Marines Park. In another instance, while Randy is talking to Jim Hickey, the author describes how he survives after the day. Frank writes,” Before the day Jim’s honey was a secondary source of income… now his honey [is] liquid gold” (196). here Frank is pushing across the point that if Jim could not trade the honey, it would not be worth anything at all. Because Jim Hickey’s original source of income is gone; the only thing he can do is trade for other essential items. In conclusion, in order to survive, the people of Fort Repose have to learn to trade with other people.
Secondly, the people of Fort Repose preserve and disinfect food and water when learning to walk again.

To explain, when the power goes out, Randy and Helen open the freezer only to discover that the ice cream has melted, but more importantly, the supply of meat may go bad. Helen says, “‘The meat won’t spoil for another 24 hours, I’m going to salvage what I can’” (152). If Helen did not preserve the meat, Randy and his family could have lost food for a week. Since the food was preserved they did not have to eat raw, diseased, and infested food that may or may not have killed them. Furthermore, another example of the people of Fort Repose having to disinfect food and water is when Dan Gunn questions the Sunburry’s about their water usage. Frank writes, “Even so, they boiled [water]...all their foods except citrus they cooked” (248). This shows that like everyone else in Fort Repose; the Sunburry’s clean and boil their food and water. Without precautions, the people of Fort Repose could have all caught diseases from polluted water. To conclude, in order to walk again, the people of Fort Repose disinfect food and

water.
Finally, in order for the people of Fort Repose to walk again, they have to use weapons for protection. As soon as the bombs hit, Randy and his family prepare for an all-out war. One of the first things out of Randy’s mouth is, “‘but from now on every gun in this house is going to be loaded’” (137). This means that before the day Randy’s weapons were never used. Now, the weapons are used to protect the family and their goods from danger. In another instance, the author describes Randy and what he does as he is leaving River Road and going to Marines Park. Pat Frank writes, “The pistol had become a part of [Randy] now” (186). If the residents of Fort Repose did not learn to take weapons everywhere they went; they would not have proper protection. Even referring said weapon as a part of a person. In summary, the people of Fort Repose clearly require to protect themselves with weapons to learn to walk again.
In conclusion, the people in Fort Repose must live through a tragedy by learning to walk again. Although at first challenged, residents find the keys and secrets to survive. In order to survive without clean food and water; the people have to disinfect and clean consumables. When faced with a low supply of food and essentials; the people of Fort Repose learn to trade with each other, resulting in a trading post in Marines Park. Last but not least, the people of Fort Repose use weapons for protection, because without weapons there is no power. In the end, the people use what they have learned to live and have a purpose which is worth living for.