Alas, Babylon – Chapters 1-4 Overview
Chapter 1
 Introduction to Randy: bottom of page 6 to top of page 9
 Alas, Babylon meaning: middle of page 13 to middle of page 15
o “Alas, Babylon was a private, a family signal” – pg. 14
o Randy and Mark first overheard this phrase from Preacher Henry at the First Afro-Repose Baptist Church
o “…their private synonym for disaster, real or comic, past or future” – pg. 15
o “But in this telegram it had a very special and exact meaning.” – pg. 15
Chapter 2
 Randy arrives at McCoy Air Force Base. It’s almost totally deserted.
 “Some buggy you got here. Won’t be worth a ‘darn’ to you” – pg. 30
 Randy’s brother Mark says that there are 4 Soviet subs close to the United States coastline. That’s a lot when
there shouldn’t be any.
 Mark gives Randy a $5000 check. “Cash it, today if you can…”
 Brothers say goodbye and Randy is told to take care of Helen, Ben Franklin, and Peyton
 “She is my right arm” – Mark uses a metaphor to emphasize how much Helen means to him.
 “He knew he should not have spared time for tears and would not, ever again.” – pg. 37
 Already Randy’s character is changing.
Chapter 3
 Randy’s shopping trip – top of page 44 to “They would be certain he was mad.”
 Randy and Malachai’s conversation – bottom of page 48 to middle of page 50
o Artesian water well (sulphur water)
o Dug past many layers of rock and sandstone, so cannot be contaminated by radiation or fallout.
o “More important than anything he had listed was water, free of dangerous bacilli, unpolluted by poisons
human, chemical, or radioactive. Pure water was essential to his civilization.” – pg. 51
Chapter 4
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Helen and Mark’s goodbye – pg. 65
o “Your job is to survive. That is your job. There is no other. You understand that, Helen?” – pg. 66
Ben Franklin understands the reality of his father’s fate if he stays in Omaha
o “This is an evacuation, isn’t it, Dad?”
o “The boy’s eyes were filling. Ben Franklin was a child of the atomic age, and knowledgeable.” – pg. 67
o “Sounds like the kickoff. I guess Dad knew what he was doing.” – pg. 85
Growing shopping list: candles, kerosene lamps, batteries, gas
Ensign James Cobb, nicknamed Peewee – pg. 69
o “Peewee may be a mouse aboard ship but he’s a tiger in a Tiger. If I sent him up with orders to shoot
down the moon, he’d try.” – pg. 69
o Sidewinder: heat seeking, short range, air to air missiles
o Syrian train bombing (ACCIDENT!) – gives the Soviet Union an excuse to attack the U.S.
“Object, may be missile, fired from Soviet base…Sensitivity radar now has four objects on its screens. Speed and
trajectory indicates they are ballistic missiles”
Chapter 4 ends with four missiles heading toward the United States.
Character List
Randy Bragg - The protagonist, and the descendant of an old Florida family. When the novel begins, he is a failed
candidate for political office, living off his family's land and the occasional work as a lawyer in the small Florida town of
Fort Repose. After the nuclear war, however, he becomes responsible for his brother Mark's family and the people who
live around him. He eventually emerges as the leader of the entire town.
Dan Gunn - Fort Repose's doctor, and Randy's best friend. A bitter divorce has left him disillusioned, but after the
nuclear war, he becomes a hero, throwing himself into the difficult work of serving as a doctor to a community in
turmoil.
Elizabeth McGovern - Randy's girlfriend. A smart, resourceful, attractive woman, her parents have moved to Fort
Repose from the North. After her mother dies of diabetes, she and her father, Bill McGovern, move in with Randy.
Helen Bragg - Mark's wife, and the mother of Peyton and Ben Franklin. Her husband, fearing imminent war, sends her
to Fort Repose from their home in Omaha, where she moves in with Randy on the day before war breaks out.
Mark Bragg - Randy's brother, and an officer with the Strategic Air Command in Omaha. He warns his brother that
nuclear war is imminent, and sends Helen and their children to live with Randy. He is assumed dead since Omaha was
hit with multiple nuclear bombs.
Malachai Henry - Randy's neighbor, who works a farm with his family.
Bill McGovern - Lib's father. After his wife's death, he and Lib move in with Randy.
Ben Franklin - Mark and Helen's son. He is thirteen when the war breaks out. He has a good understanding of the
nuclear attack and steps up to take a leadership role alongside his Uncle Randy.
Peyton - Mark and Helen's daughter. She is eleven when the war begins. She has temporary retinal burns for a few
weeks after she looks directly at the blast.
Florence Wechek - Randy's neighbor, a gossipy older woman who runs the Western Union telegraph office in Fort
Repose.
Admiral Hazzard - A retired military man, he lives near Randy on the River Road, and operates a ham radio as a hobby.
Rita Hernandez - A poor but beautiful woman who lives in the slum known as Pistolville. She is a former girlfriend of
Randy.
Alice Cooksey - The Fort Repose librarian, and Florence's best friend. She is quite intelligent.
Two-Tone Henry - Malachai's lazy brother, and Missouri's husband, called "Two-Tone" because his face has two shades
of color.
Missouri - Two-Tone's wife, she lives with him on the Henry farm, and cleans houses for a living.
Edgar Quisenberry - The President of the Fort Repose bank. He commits suicide after he realizes that the entire banking
system has failed and money is worth nothing.
Preacher Henry - Malachai and Two-Tone's father. He is the preacher who uses the phrase “Alas, Babylon.”
Paul Hart - An officer in the Air Force, stationed in Orlando, and a friend of Randy and Mark.
Pete Hernandez - Rita's brother
Porky Logan - The local representative to the state legislature, who defeated Randy for the office. He is a fat, greedy
man.
Lavinia McGovern - Lib's mother, who suffers from diabetes. She dies after the electricity goes out and she no longer
has access to insulin.
Bubba Offenhaus - The owner of the local funeral parlor.
Mrs. Josephine Vanbruuker-Brown - Formerly the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, she becomes President
of the U.S.A. after nuclear weapons wipe out Washington.