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Chapter 22
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 wakes in the late morning. At first, he thinks he sees a female Buddha with an American accent before realizing it’s Sal. She tries to get Richard to eat food, but he refuses. Richard tells Sal the story of how he found the map to the beach, including discovering Daffy Duck’s body.
Richard’s hallucination of Sal as a Buddha reflects how although the beach camp is not religiously affiliated, Sal is nevertheless something like a spiritual leader to the group. While Richard sees this as miraculous at first, he will come to see a darker side of it as he spends more time in the camp.
Themes
Richard asks Sal some questions about the camp he’s currently at. Sal describes it as a “beach resort.” Richard admits he’s a little disappointed and was expecting something more, perhaps for the beach to have an “ideology” or some other purpose. Richard asks about the “drug lords” who oversee the nearby fields. Sal thinks that “drug lord” is too dramatic of a title—while they do guard the fields with guns, they’re no danger to the beach camp because they also want to avoid attracting authorities. Richard asks Sal if she knew Daffy Duck, and she says he was a friend who used to live at the beach.
