Leadership and Self-Redemption

Author's Note- This is my final essay to my independent reading book, Alas, Babylon.  I tried to work on making my introduction and conclusion a bit more solid.  I'd like some advice and comments on those, so please comment.  Thanks for the help!

What would you do if all of a sudden, bombs started falling from the sky and obliterating your surrounding cities?  Even though you and your family somehow survived this terrible incident, all methods of transportation and communication are suddenly and without warning, eliminated.  All sources of food, clean water, electricity, medical care, and other vital necessities are wiped out, leaving it up to you to find your way out of this situation for you and your family.  Going outside for long periods of time could mean death by radiation, and the leader of your city has already gotten lethally ill from toxins.  Many of the important
people in your town's society have gone bad since the nuclear attack from all the pressures of maintaining the town, turning to alcohol, drugs, and even suicide for comfort and numbing or ending their pain.  That leaves you, as someone who has dabbled in politics a bit, to take control and restore order.

This is exactly what Randy Bragg's life is like.  It wasn't always like this before.  In fact, before this, Randy was just known as the downfall of his once prominent political family, a drunkard, and sort of a player, after being shot down in his run for town office 5 to 1 because of his belief in African American rights.  His life was drifting off in a pretty aimless direction.  Now, suddenly, everyone is turning to him for help.  Of course, before helping his town, he needs to help his brother's wife and children, as a last wish from his brother before he died in the bombing.  He has, of course, stocked up on food, because his brother Mark had informed Randy on his suspicions of nuclear attack.  But it’s up to him to find fresh water, and learn how to survive without the necessities he's taken advantage of- electricity, medical care, and communication, among others. 

All this, of course, is a major struggle, not just for Randy, but for everybody.  It would all have been so much easier if this war hadn't started in the first place.  There are no winners in a nuclear war.  Just destruction and death.  But, without that war, Randy Bragg would never have truly become who he is now.  He wouldn't have made that vital transition from playboy with a trust fund into hardened leader.  Dr. Gunn wouldn't have gone from a man who has lost his calling to a man with a mission.  Helen and Lib wouldn't have changed from unnoticeable housewives to strong protectors of their family and home.  In one of my dad's favorite book, Fahrenheit 451, the main character says that man is a cousin of the phoenix.  We will die in a fire of our own making but we will also rise again from our own ashes, ready to begin again.  In this nuclear war, they become consumed in their own fire, and in their attempt of survival, they make an effort to rise again from the ashes.

My Sister's Keeper vs. Alas, Babylon

*Authors Note- This was a response to an assignment about comparing my novel to real world situations or situations from other novels.  I'm not sure about how I feel about my introduction and conclusion, so I would really appreciate comments on that.

Have you ever been about to leave for vacation, and looked back at your room right before you left? You think you'll see it after a few days or weeks, or whenever you're supposed to get back, and it will look the exact same way you left it. I bet you never even imagined that it would be the last glimpse of your room you'd ever see.

That was exactly what it was like for Peyton, age 11, and Ben Franklin, age 13, Mark's children. When they were told that they were going to visit their uncle Randy for a while, they thought it was just because the holidays were coming up, or maybe they never even thought why they were going, as they were so excited to be leaving dreary Omaha. They never packed their stuffed animals or their favorite toys, because they thought they'd be able to come home and play with them as soon as they came back. They never knew they were never coming back. This reminds me of a very eye-opening scene in the book My Sister's Keeper. Kate, who has been diagnosed with leukemia, is about to leave for the hospital with her family. She's going to get a very important transplant that could go wrong in so many ways. She knows that it's quite possible she won't leave that hospital alive, but unlike most of us would be when faced with high chance of death, she is unusually calm about it. Her parents don't think she realizes that she could die, and they're okay with that. After all, at the time of this surgery, she was only seven, and they don't want to terrify her. Better to be unaware, they think. But she knows. Right before she leaves, her mom and sister come up to her room to tell her it's time to go, and they find her room cleaner than it has ever been, with the quilt pulled so tightly you could "bounce a dime on its", as the book says. The stuffed animals are in a perfect row, not a fraction of an inch out of line, in order from tallest to shortest and all the coloring pages and chapter books that are usually scattered around the room are gone. Kate is just dusting the last corner of her desk when they enter. Her mother and sister are too shocked to speak. Kate explains why her room is so neat and clean in an eerily calm and innocent voice. "It's in case I don't come back."

After I had read this part, I realized why I loved Kate's character so much; because in certain ways, she's wiser and more acceptant of death than any person I've ever met, child or adult. Knowing that at any moment she could die of blood clotting or infected marrow really made Kate realize that she needed to live like she was really about to die.