Alas, Babylon Review

1. Alas, Babylon Review Level Test

2. Figurative Language • Foreshadowing – hints that something will happen later on • “Insulin requires refrigeration” – Dan Gunn mentions in Ch. 3, and then the electricity will go out at the end of Ch. 6. • Metaphor – a comparison between two unlike things not using the words like or as • Mark says that Helen “is my right arm.” He is comparing her to an essential part of himself. • “Alice, tiny, drab in black and gray, an active, angry sparrow of a woman, arrived late.” • Simile – a comparison between two unlike things using the words like or as • "Her eyes, which reflected her moods as the river reflected the sky, were gray and opaque." • "The air is like soup and the people are like noodles." • Allusion – reference to a famous person, place, historical event, or literary work • “the Good Samaritan” reference to the Bible – Randy stops to help the woman on the side of the road (she is already dead). • Riverside Inn residents compared to first-class Titanic passengers • Theme – life lesson or message being taught

3. Chapter 5 • Randy and the others are awoken by the earth shaking due to nuclear bombs dropping. • Randy figures out how close they are to the blasts by using the flash and sound system. • See the blast flash and mark the time • Hear the blast and mark the time • Use arithmetic/math to figure out the distance of the blast • Peyton is injured (temporary retinal burns) • Ben Franklin – child of the atomic age • “I’m going to fill up the sinks and pails and tubs with water.” • Randy drives to town to get Dan Gunn • Accident on the road / “And yet Randy stopped” • Randy cannot abandon his humanity, so he stops to make sure there is something he can do to help the woman – she is already dead though. • Riverside Inn is in a state of chaos and medical emergency • Theme: only the strong survive • Allusion: “If the Riverside Inn sank, they must go down with the ship.”

4. Chapter 5 • Bank chaos • Edgar Quisenberry • At first refuses to limit money withdrawals or to close the bank • “This was Edgar’s first, and perhaps his vital error.” • “By afternoon the law of scarcity had condemned the dollar to degradation and contempt. Within a few more days the dollar would be banished entirely.” – pg. 119 • “If the dollar was worthless, everything was worthless. The end of civilization as we know it. It meant the end of money” • “He had been a banker all his life and that’s how he was going to die, a banker.”

5. Chapter 6 • “The Day” – pg. 123 • Radio dependence – waiting to hear from the outside world • Mrs. Josephine Vanbruuker-Brown • Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare • PRESIDENT! • “There have been grave dislocations of communications, of industrial, economic, and financial functions.” – pg. 127 • Puts debts and loans on hold due to the banks crumbling • Dan Gunn visits to check on Peyton and talks with Randy about the medical situation in town; learns the Edgar killed himself • “Aren’t you drinking, Randy?” - Dan “No, I don’t feel like I want one.” - Randy

6. Chapter 6 • Toynbee’s Theory: “Some nations and some people melt in the heat of crisis and come apart like fat in the pan. Others meet the challenge and harden.” – pg. 133 • “‘You load up your gun, Ben,’ he said. ‘It’s yours now. Never point it at a man unless you intend to shoot him, and never shoot unless you mean to kill.’” – pg. 137 • Ben’s loss of innocence/childhood • Admiral Hazzard (retired) – has old ham radio he uses to listen to military communication • Electricity goes out when Orlando is bombed

7. Chapter 7 • Loss of electricity • Water shortage solution: connect all the houses on River Road using the artesian water well (Bragg’s house, Henry’s house, Admiral Hazzard’s house, Florence’s house = rely upon each other to survive) • Addicts attack Dan’s clinic looking for drug fix • Dan moves in to Randy’s house on River Road (rely upon each other to survive) • Radio announcement of contamination zones

8. Chapter 7 • LaviniaMcGovern dies - no refrigeration = no insulin • Bill and Lib move in to Randy’s house (rely upon each other to survive) • Commotion at Florence’s house • Sir Percy (cat) ate Anthony (parrot) • “The strong survive. The frail die.” – pg. 176 • “We’re going to have to be tough. We’re going to have to be catfish.” – Randy to Lib