Previous
Chapter 96
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
Richard and Keaty comment on how everyone who ate the stew seems to be tripping. It’s becoming harder and harder for Richard’s group to disguise that they’re avoiding stew and alcohol. Richard goes off to check on Jed. Jed is asleep, and Christo is still barely breathing. Richard says Jed’s name, and Jed doesn’t wake up. During a cheer from the party, Richard covers Christo’s mouth and nose for about two minutes until he dies, then quietly walks back out. When he arrives back at Tet, the Yugoslavian girls are dancing in the center of everyone.
The drugs that Richard and the others spike the stew with symbolize how, on a broader level, the beach camp has always been a sort of mass delusion where its members weren’t really living in reality. Richard hopes to exploit this denial of reality in order to allow himself and his companions to escape. Richard’s decision to kill Christo, while supposedly for the good of Jed, shows how Richard is beginning to see himself in a God-like role, with the power of his new leadership going to his head.
Active
Themes
