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Chapter 2
Themes
and Colors
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
People on Khao San Road start to wake up around five. Richard lies in bed and listens. Eventually, he gets up and goes to the small eating area. He sees the silent heroin hippie from before. Richard, who is English, runs into some Americans who recommend the banana pancakes.
In the beginning of the novel, Richard spends a lot of his time listening and observing others. He dislikes this and wishes that he could play a more active role in his life, which is why he longs for a more authentic traveling experience than eating banana pancakes with Americans.
Active
Themes
After breakfast, Richard goes out to see Bangkok. When he gets back, an old Thai woman who works at the guest house tells him there’s a letter for him on his door. Richard goes to his room and finds that someone has left a map on his door. He asks the Thai woman if she knows who left the letter, but she doesn’t understand. Richard studies the map, which is carefully hand-drawn. An X on it marks “Beach.” Richard decides to go talk to the Scottish man. But when he arrives, the Scottish man has seemingly killed himself by slitting his wrists with a knife, and the room is full of blood. Richard goes to get help.
