The Beach

The beach itself is the novel’s most prominent symbol. It is the setting, it is the mood, and it is the source of people’s poor mental health and needless sacrifice. The sacrifices begin with getting there and do not end until one either escapes or dies. The beach represents risk, danger, mystery, and adventure—everything Richard and his friends wanted. Sal upholds a deep-rooted and strict ideology of the beach, saying, “We come here to relax by a beautiful beach, but it isn’t a beach resort because we’re trying to get away from beach resorts. Or we’re trying to make a place that won’t turn into a beach resort. See?” (98). The beach is a fully developed symbol of The Illusion of False Utopias and a protest against Humanity’s Destruction of Nature and the soullessness of tourism. Before long, the beach starts to become more like a prison than a paradise, isolating Richard and the others from the world outside and leading them to commit heinous acts. Jed even tells Richard, “Golden rule, first thing to do when you arrive someplace is find out how you can get out again” (153), shocked that it never occurred to Richard to find a way out.