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Brother in Land Notes

This document contains a summary and analysis of the post-apocalyptic novel "Brother in the Land" by Robert Swindells. It discusses how the novel depicts a bleak world where human values have decayed after a nuclear war. Wretchedness and greed override basic human principles as people fight for survival. The main character Danny is forced to live in the direct aftermath of the war among the devastation and radiation. The summary analyzes how characters like the commissioner prioritize their own survival and needs over basic human decency.

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Naushin Fasih - 37096/TCHR/SBGR
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1K views4 pages

Brother in Land Notes

This document contains a summary and analysis of the post-apocalyptic novel "Brother in the Land" by Robert Swindells. It discusses how the novel depicts a bleak world where human values have decayed after a nuclear war. Wretchedness and greed override basic human principles as people fight for survival. The main character Danny is forced to live in the direct aftermath of the war among the devastation and radiation. The summary analyzes how characters like the commissioner prioritize their own survival and needs over basic human decency.

Uploaded by

Naushin Fasih - 37096/TCHR/SBGR
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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stories which start with the end of the world, the protagonist is usually a person who escapes the

cataclysm by some unusual twist of fate. However, this novel dares to break the pattern – teenage
boy Danny Lodge, around whom this story is centred, is forced to live in the direct aftermath of a
nuclear war, with a band of fellow survivors from his town, right in the middle of the devastation
… and the radiation.

The book packs plenty of punches. We read about the loss of loved ones, ever-increasing hunger,
radiation sickness leading to death, man’s inhumanity to man in the fight to survive, and worst of
all, fears about mutation – whether mankind will be able to give birth to normal human beings
again.

On the brighter side, there’s a love story that runs through the book. Also, an interesting sub-plot
involving a second surviving community, one dressed in anti-radiation suits and carrying guns.

Swindell succeeds in painting a very gloomy picture, and I found myself wondering how this
book was going to come up with an ending that would make the telling of the story worthwhile.
It does manage to, but only just. Make no mistake, this is bleak stuff, almost disturbing stuff, and
I don’t think I’ll ever read it twice. However, I am glad I read it once, and Swindells is to be
admired for daring to write something of such depth for a teenage audience.

In this essay I will to show how wretchedness and greed override all
principles taught to a person in the novel "Brother in the land"
written by Robert Swindells.

This will be done by, first, analysing the word wretchedness and then
looking at certain sections of the novel.

A wretch man, what does it mean? The dictionary's definition is the


following:

Wretch:Contemptible, mean person. A wretched person is someone who


doesn't care anything about anyone except himself. In the novel, the
commissioner is exactly that kind of person. In fact, most of the
soldiers from Kershaw Farm are like this, even Rhodes, Danny's P.E
teacher, acted that way. As I stated previously, wretchedness
overrides all human principles. Since after the bombs fell, no one was
able to stand up before the soldiers, wretchedness had overruled
everyone. Before the fallout there were saner, than wretched people.

The decay of values is a very important factor. This happens mainly


due to the "mutation" mankind has suffered. This lead to a lot of
discrimination from everyone's behalf. The reason it is referred to as
a mutation is because the population of Skipley has divided into
different species (Goths, Purples, Badgers, Spacers, Defectors, etc.).

Mankind's mutation was not a physical mutation, at least not at first;


it was simply that the population divided into the different groups.
Each group was very different from each other. The Goths were the
people that killed people just to take their food, such as Charley.
The Purples were cannibals who captured, killed and ate people to
survive. The Badgers were the ones who had underground shelters and
always stayed below ground. The Spacers had nowhere to go; they walked
around the ruins absorbing radioactivity until they died. The
Defectors were people that had escaped from the village up at Kershaw
Farm and wanted to join MASADA. The Insane were the soldiers from
Kershaw Farm who wanted everything for themselves (Mainly the
Commissioner).

Live preservation decay is also a very important factor. This is


mostly shown by the actions taken y the soldiers at Kershaw Farm. The
first great hit they make against the town is when they come around
for the first time in their trucks saying that they are to supposedly
pick up all the sick or wounded and take to a hospital back at Kershaw
Farm. Instead of caring for them and nursing them, they line them up
and kill them one by one just so they do not to have to bear with
them. The second atrocity is made when they finally set up the food
tents at a nearby camp. Everyone goes there because they have no other
choice, either they died of hunger or they take their chances with the
soldiers at the park. Most of the people went. There, they were
divided into different queues. It turned up that one of the queues was
serving poisoned food, which didn't react immediately. Later that day
most of the people died due to the food. People kept going to the food
tents because, as I've stated before, they had no other choice. The
last great threat they were able to make against the population was
when they contaminated the well. The well was the only available place
to get pure water outside Kershaw farm. Without this, the survivors
could only last a few months. The reason why they were killing all the
sick, wounded, and weak was because they were going to need only the
healthy people to cultivate crops in Kershaw Farm. The soldiers wanted
to have a sort of communist system, which meant that everyone would
have the same. The problem was that it wasn't true; the soldiers would
relax while everyone else worked like slaves only for a small amount
of food and a roof to sleep under.

Most wretchedness came from the people at Kershaw Farm but also a lot
came from Rhodes, Danny's P.E teacher; this is part of the mutation
humanity suffered. The discrimination was now towards the sick instead
of the poor. Rhodes himself thinks that it is a waste effort, time and
supplies to keep receiving the sick and wounded at Brandwell's house
(MASADA Headquarters). "Don't dole it out to all and sundry! (the
water) Save it for us, we need to keep our strength up." And continues
later on (Danny speaking) "A lot of defectors (people who escaped from
Kershaw Farm) were sick, and Rhodes and some others thought we
shouldn't take them. They were a drain to our resources and
contributed nothing to our cause."

There were still people, apart from Danny, who were still sane enough
to do the right thing; such as Brandwell, who gave shelter and food to
anyone who came in need of them. He knew that the second they turned
people down when they came; they would be just like the soldiers up at
Kershaw Farm. Even Danny's father was a bit greedy. He did not want to
give food to the needed, he just gave a small amount the first day and
that was it. Another sane person was Booth. He knew the difference
between good and bad thus letting Danny live instead of shooting him,
as the commissioner had ordered.

In consequence of the commissioner's actions, many suffered and a lot


died. If he had only been a kinder person like Brandwell, most of the
killings and death in the novel wouldn't have happened. The
commissioner could've done some simple things to prevent the death of
hundreds. First of all, he should he stuck to the rules and set up a
hospital and feeding centre. The feeding centre would have prevented
the death of all the spacers because they didn't have to go around
looking for food absorbing radiation. And obviously, the hospital
would have saved most of the injured people. More important thing he
had to do was to act quickly so that the number of people of people
who were to die could be as low as possible.

In conclusion I can say that wretchedness and greediness, under severe


pressure and despair, can turn any normal being into a miserable
person who cares for himself. He becomes a self-centred person who
will stop at nothing to have whatever is necessary for him to live. In
my opinion, the novel "Brother in the land" is and excellent book who
tells nothing but the truth. If a nuclear holocaust ever take place,
the world leaders, or at least the most powerful survivors, would take
control f everything and force everyone to do as they ordered. I hope
that I do not have to live through a nuclear holocaust because, from
what I've read, it's better to die than to live.

It is typical of nuclear texts for young adults that the reason for the disaster is given in
metaphysical rather than political terms. The wise guide figure in Brother in the Land,
Branwell, says to Danny:
We watched death and destruction on T.V. newsreels till it meant nothing
to us – till it didn't shock us any more. If we'd realized in time what was
happening to us, if we'd clung on to our reverence for life, then we'd
never have launched those missiles.
(Swindells 2000, 76)

The responsibility of the young adult in preventing the disaster which has been set up
by the adult generation is particularly obvious in the Afterword to the 1986 edition of
Brother in the Land, partially quoted in the title of this paper:
There is no hope in my story because it is about a time after the bombs
have fallen. The hope – the one hope – is that your generation will prove
wiser and more responsible than mine, and that the bombs will not fall.
Soon our lovely, fragile world will pass into your hands. Safe hands, I
believe.
(Swindells 1986, 153)

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