Pat Frank's Alas Babylon: A Character Analysis

Being prepared for every outcome is a feat that few people accomplish. If one is prepared for every eventuality, good or bad, nothing could catch him or her off guard. Take death; if one waits for it every day, thinking the next breath could be the last, then death may never come or be so far off one misses out on aspects of life. On the other hand, if one stays ignorant to the fact that he or she will die, how can one be prepared for it to happen? Authors use the readiness of their characters as a way of building characteristics and deciding what actions said characters take. The level of readiness dictates the reaction and sometimes fate of these characters. A good example where a character’s readiness was more than adequate is, Randy in Pat Frank’s Alas Babylon. Randy was living in his quiet Florida town when he receives a call from his brother. Randy’s brother tells him about an impending bomb strike on the United States. Randy is quick to action; buying supplies for the fallout and even taking in his brother’s wife and children He realizes that this news could upset his fellow citizens, and keeps it to himself. At the moment of the attack, Randy was caught off guard, but not …show more content…
One of the best examples of this is found in Abeche’s, Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo, the main character, is determined to not grow up like his deadbeat father. He spends every waking moment trying to be the opposite of what his father stood for. This may seem like readiness but when Okonkwo’s anger for his father manifests into beating, killing, and breaking scared traditions, Okonkwo’s life is turned upside down. He is thrown out of his village and loses all the status he had desperately worked for. In the end, Okonkwo’s low level of readiness for what could happen, and only expecting the good, results in his death, by suicide. He ends up with the same, deadbeat reputation his father died