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52 pages 1 hour read

J. G. Ballard

The Drowned World

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1962

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Essay Topics

1.

Though The Drowned World is often treated as almost uncannily prescient in its depiction of climate change, the climate catastrophe in the novel has nothing to do with human activity. How is this vision of climate change distinct—morally, symbolically, and thematically—from present reality? Why is it important that the apocalypse in the novel has not been caused by humans?

2.

Why does Beatrice refuse to leave her lavish apartment? What does the apartment symbolize for her? What does her presence in the apartment symbolize for the other characters—especially Kerans?

3.

Everyone on the mission experiences similar, recurring dreams. Analyze the symbolic content of these dreams. What do their frightening images represent? What do they suggest about the individual psyches of the characters and about the collective psyche of humanity?

4.

In what ways does The Drowned World present Riggs and Strangman as opposites? In what ways are they the same? How do their seemingly antithetical worldviews converge, and what does this convergence reveal about the nature of power?

5.

How does The Drowned World portray the relationship between humanity and nature? Is nature an antagonist in the novel, or do Hardman and Kerans find a way to move beyond antagonism?

6.

The Drowned World is a work of science fiction. How does the novel present the scientific elements of its narrative? How does the novel differ in its treatment of science from more conventional science fiction novels?

7.

To what extent can the novel be described as a satire of the English middle class? What signifiers of class can be found in the novel, and how does their significance shift in the post-apocalyptic world?

8.

Consider the symbolism of instruments used for measurement throughout the novel. Riggs rewinds the clocks of London despite their lack of practical utility. Kerans steals a compass from the base. Thermometers measure the temperature of the air. What human impulses do these instruments represent, and how do impulses break down in the face of apocalypse?

9.

Riggs suggests that Strangman may receive a medal for draining the waters above London. Why does this comment solidify Kerans’s plans to travel south? What does the reclaimed city represent to Kerans? What does it represent within the world of the novel?

10.

At the end of the novel, Kerans reunites briefly with Hardman. To what degree does he fear that he may suffer Hardman’s fate? To what degree does he accept this possibility?

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