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Chapter 11
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Beach, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Tourism and Authenticity
Power, Control, and Human Nature
War, Violence, and Escapism
Secrecy, Fear, and Paranoia
Summary
Analysis
Richard thinks that South Asian people have the right bodies to be “eerily convincing transvestites.” He meets a Thai man with fake breasts in a dress playing backgammon under a palm tree. The man tries to convince Richard to play a game, but he refuses. Eventually Étienne arrives and invites Richard to a restaurant, saying that he thinks he and Françoise have found a promising boat to take.
This passage shows how Richard views the people of Thailand as different from himself and makes broad generalizations about them. He sees the Thai man in a dress as something exotic and chooses not to engage with him, instead spending time with the Europeans Étienne and Françoise. Richard’s behavior in this scene drives home his underlying hypocrisy. He claims he wants an authentic experience of Thailand, yet he refuses to interact with Thai people.
Themes
Étienne brings Richard to the restaurant where the fisherman is at. Richard thinks the fishman looks like a “spiv” (petty criminal). Étienne and the fisherman haggle over a price for a trip. He agrees to take them to an island, then come back to pick them up in three days, in case they can’t find the beach. Richard is concerned because part of the plan for accessing the inaccessible beach involves swimming, and he knows from earlier that Étienne and Françoise are much stronger swimmers than he is.
Richard clings to the familiar culture of his home instead of immersing himself in Thai culture, using the familiar slang term (to him) “spiv” in order to see Thailand in his own terms. The fact that he, Étienne, and Françoise need the help of a local to make it to the beach shows how they are not the independent-minded travelers they consider themselves to be.
Themes
Richard, Étienne, and Françoise make plans to get plastic bags to keep their backpacks dry while they swim. Richard and Étienne decide to go on a practice swim, but Françoise stays behind.
Richard, Étienne, and Françoise dream of living civilization behind, but they still plan to take heavy packs with them, showing how leaving behind civilization isn’t so easy—they can’t imagine leaving behind the creature comforts they’ve grown used to.
Themes
