Brother in the Land centers on the character of a teenage boy (Danny) who somehow manages to survive a nuclear attack. Danny, along with his younger brother Ben, must learn and fight to survive in a society that has became cave man rule. After originally thinking that they have been lucky to be alive, they soon begin to realize that living is going to be the hardest job of all. Danny has to grow up fast and to protect himself and those around him, in a world where only the strongest and most cunning will keep going. In among all this gloom and fear, there is also a love story developing between Danny and a girl called Kim.
After reading the novel, I thought a person that will survive in a catastrophic event should have 3 major characteristic: need to be optimistic, should have great bravery and should be quickly get with in the new society.
I think optimistic is the most important thing that we should have during a catastrophic event, even in normal life we also should be optimistic. In the Brother in the Land, there also have optimistic part in it like the love between Danny and Kim, Danny helped Kim by fighting with two boys who want to stole Kim’s food, and Danny have optimistic he became loved Kim. And also people in Masada (Movement to Arm Skipley against Dictatorial Authority) worked together, look after each other and survive together. These things all showed these people are optimistic. they didn’t became desperate, they started again building new society; made even better relationships between other people; they grow new corn. All of these are because they have an optimistic psychology.
The great bravery is also very helpful when you want to survive in a catastrophic event. Like Danny, he helped Kim get rid of two boys, although he doesn’t need to do that, but the great bravery helped him to do it. Because of this, he knew Kim and became loved her. This helped Danny to survive. And the people in Masada, they fought with the local government, tried to get food, water, weapons and free. They were all have a great bravery. Also at last Danny, Kim and Ben walked away from Skipley to Holy Island. If they don’t have great bravery, they may stay at Branwell and dead or dead before they arrived to Holy Island.
Danny is not a person who is quickly got with in the new society. But Kim got with in the new society very quickly and he told Danny. “Cavemen versus gentlemen is no contest, we have got to be as hard as they are.”This means Kim had already known we should not be gentle any more. We should do everything by ourselves. We should make our own food and water, people won’t help you, and they will only try to rob from you. When Danny helped Kim to get rid of two lads, she almost killed them, and she said “It’s going to be us or them.” This also shows she had already got into this new society. Mr. Branwell made a new society by him self called Masada, the people in it also have got with the new society. They were not just listened to the local government. They knew the government can’t give them anything. They know its cave man rule now. They should make everything by themselves.
The bomb itself takes up only a small part of the book, but it told us how to survive in a catastrophic event and what kind of person can survive. The person like Danny, Kim, and Mr. Branwell……They all should be optimistic, should have great bravery and should be quickly got with in the new society.