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Chapter 67
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
The camp erupts in confusion after Karl of the Swedish men says “shark.” Everyone rushes to get water for Karl and Sten, another Swedish man who is also in bad condition. Eventually, Richard realizes that Sten has died and that no one has mentioned Christo, the third Swedish man, who is still missing. Richard goes out to search for Christo. He sees tracks on the beach of where Karl dragged Sten, but there’s no sign of Christo. As Richard calls for Christo, another person does the same, but Richard can’t tell who it is. After a while, Richard wonders if it’s Daffy. Richard goes out into the water to try to see where Christo might be.
The fates of the Swedish men show how lucky Richard was in his own encounter with the shark. The potential appearance for Richard of Daffy during the daytime while Richard is seemingly awake shows how Richard’s perception of reality is beginning to slip. This shows how Richard struggles to accept the reality of the shark attack and what it means about the dangers that the camp faces.
Themes
