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The map that Daffy Duck leaves behind for Richard, which leads Richard to a secret and secluded beach, initially symbolizes Richard and the other beach goers’ yearning for authenticity and utopia. When Richard first hears about the beach from Daffy, he imagines it must be some sort of utopia, untouched by tourism. Shortly after receiving a map to the beach’s location in a note from Daffy, Richard finds Daffy’s dead body, with Daffy having seemingly slit his own wrists. Despite this bad omen, Richard remains obsessed with the idea that the map can lead him to somewhere authentic, showing how powerful of a motivation this desire can be. The map and the yearning for utopia it represents helps Richard bond with Étienne and Françoise, a young French couple who have a similar desire to experience something real and who end up joining Richard on his quest to find the beach.
But over the course of the story, the map’s symbolism deepens to represent the destructive elements of human nature that stand as obstacles to the authenticity and fulfillment that Richard and the other beach goes so desire. The map represents an idealized vision of what Richard and the others want the beach to be—but as tensions rise at the camp, it becomes clear that the flawed and self-serving aspects of human nature complicate that vision. When Richard offers a copy of the map to Zeph and Sammy, two Americans he runs into in Thailand, he thinks that he is doing a good deed and helping them also go on an adventure. But as more time passes, Richard begins to regret this decision. He learns that the beach community operates on trust and secrecy, and bringing in new people like Zeph and Sammy could upset the camp’s fragile balance. Richard laments how travel guides and journalists bring new in new tourists to areas, not realizing that he himself has done something similar in sharing his knowledge of the beach with others. Moreover, following the map turns out to have disastrous consequences for Zeph and Sammy, who end up being killed by Thai farmers guarding a nearby crop of marijuana.
Map Quotes in The Beach
The The Beach quotes below all refer to the symbol of Map. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3 Quotes
The map was beautifully colored in. The islands’ perimeters were drawn in green biro and little blue pencil waves bobbed in the sea. A compass sat in the top-right-hand corner, carefully segmented into sixteen points, each with an arrow tip and appropriate bearing. At the top of the map it read “Gulf of Thailand” in thick red marker. A thinner red pen had been used for the islands’ names. It was so carefully drawn that I had to smile. It reminded me of geography homework and tracing paper.[…]
Then, on one of a cluster of small islands I noticed a black mark. An X mark. I looked closer. Written underneath in tiny letters was the word “Beach.”
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Chapter 6 Quotes
If Étienne was the one who turned the idea of finding the beach into a possibility, it was Françoise who made it happen. The odd thing was, she did it almost accidentally, simply by taking it for granted that we were going to try.
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Chapter 10 Quotes
They were Harvard students. Sammy was studying law, Zeph was studying Afro-American literature. Their surf act was a reaction to the condescending Europeans they kept meeting in Asia. “It’s a protest against bigotry,” Zeph explained, pulling knots out of his tangled blond locks. “Europeans think all Americans are stupid, so we act stupid to confirm your prejudices.”
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Chapter 84 Quotes
Within five or six seconds the silence was exploded by a burst of gunfire. It was entirely unambiguous, somehow managing to ripple through the trees like a quick breeze and tear through them with shocking loudness. A single burst, but a long one. Long enough for me to blink and hunch my shoulders, and then be aware that the shooting was still going on.
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Get the entire The Beach LitChart as a printable PDF.
Map Symbol Timeline in The Beach
The timeline below shows where the symbol Map appears in The Beach. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...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,...
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Chapter 4
...tells the officer about his previous interactions with “Daffy Duck,” although he doesn’t mention the map.
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Richard tells Étienne that he knows where the beach is—he has a map from Daffy Duck. Richard agrees to show it to Étienne.
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Chapter 6
At the guest house, Richard shows Étienne the map. Étienne recognizes the map as pointing to a beach on an island where tourists can’t...
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...it back to the guest house. She walks in on Richard and Étienne studying the map and helps cement the idea of trying to find the beach. They all recognize that...
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Chapter 11
...and Zeph but reassures Étienne and Françoise that he didn’t tell the Americans about the map or the beach. They make plans over breakfast to hire a fisherman with a boat....
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Chapter 13
...the French couple discuss whether they think Zeph and Sammy actually knew anything about the map.
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Chapter 15
...morning, Richard sneaks over to the hut of Zeph and Sammy. He gives them the map and tells them to wait three days—if Richard doesn’t come back by then, it will...
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Chapter 16
...deserted island before and decides to explore for half an hour while Étienne consults his maps. Richard walks along the shore to a glade, thinking about how he feels like he’s...
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Chapter 42
...irritated because he heard about two Americans looking for the beach, who even have a map of it. Richard realizes they’re Zeph and Sammy, whom he forgot about. Richard protests that...
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...they can do is wait and hope that Zeph and Sammy go home, taking the map with them. As they prepare to leave, Jed says Richard shouldn’t tell anyone else, like...
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Chapter 55
...the beach, but Jed assures Richard that he hasn’t told Sal about Richard giving a map to Zeph and Sammy. Still, while Richard can’t get a clear view of the strangers,...
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...some people have been hearing rumors about the beach even before Richard gave away his map.
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Chapter 56
...mind lying to Sal and Bugs about how he gave away a copy of a map, but it’s harder for him to lie to his old fishing friends and Keaty. Still,...
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Chapter 83
...someone already. He says they all came looking for a friend who gave them a map. The guard says the newcomers will all have to come with them as captives. Sammy...
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Chapter 85
...the rafters all came of their own free will, still omitting how he gave a map to Zeph and Sammy. Richard promises not to mention the shooting to anyone else except...
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Chapter 89
...to see how protecting the beach forever wasn’t feasible. Richard accuses Daffy of leaving the map for Richard to deliberately try to undo the beach. Richard feels tricked and punches Daffy,...
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Chapter 101
...weed crop. They all like him and find him funny. The boss pulls out a map, complaining that maps draw new people, which makes the weed field more dangerous.
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Chapter 103
...Sal reads aloud the note that Richard left for Zeph and Sammy along with the map. She sounds like she doesn’t want to believe that Richard brought the strangers in. The...
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