Alas, Babylon

Frank uses the novel to show two negative aspects to technology. The first is that, with the invention of the hydrogen bomb, humans succeeded in creating a technology that could destroy the planet. They used brainpower and vast funding to create an existential threat that was subject to human fallibility, pettiness, and irrationality. Weapons, Frank’s novel indicates, are a counterproductive use of technology. They are instruments of war, and the world of Alas, Babylon pays a high price when military powers use those instruments.

The other negative facet of technology in the novel is evident once technology is largely removed from the world. When the power supply of Timucuan County is destroyed, “the lights went out, and in that moment civilization in Fort Repose retreated a hundred years” (197). The simple removal of electricity shows the utter dependence that people have on their devices: “Refrigeration stopped, along with electric cooking. The oil furnaces, sparked by electricity, died. All radios were utterly useless unless battery powered or in automobiles. Washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, fryers, toasters, roasters, vacuum cleaners, shavers, heaters, beaters—all stopped” (199). People who lived in a time before electricity could not have experienced such a reversal. In the absence of electricity, most of the people in Fort Repose realize that they are ignorant about the workings of the power grid and that they have always taken its reliability for granted. In Alas, Babylon, the technologies of everyday life both serve mankind and reveal peoples’ lack of survival skills.

Fort Repose is small enough to allow Frank to describe people primarily through their roles. Edgar Quisenberry could be called “the banker.” Dan Gunn could simply be “the doctor,” and so on. One thematic advantage of setting the novel in such a small town is that Frank illustrates the interdependence of the people in the community. If they do not cooperate and make use of each other’s talents, everyone has a poorer chance of thriving, or even surviving.

Cooperation is what helps Randy link the artesian well to so many houses, providing water. The Henrys could have denied his request and kept the water for themselves. The trading market that develops shows the importance of even a primitive system of commerce where people cooperate to exchange goods and services. Similarly, Alice could choose to leave the library closed. However, keeping it open restores her faith in the organization’s purpose, and makes it possible for people to continue learning in the absence of radio news. When criminal elements surface in Fort Repose, furthermore, it requires Randy’s coordinated effort with his posse to restore order and impose laws.

A community thrives when its citizens can benefit from each other’s skills, and the more diverse the range of skills, the better. When the novel ends, the main characters choose to stay in Fort Repose and continue to rebuild their community. The disaster has given them new purpose, and they have learned how essential they are to each other.