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The Portable Phonograph Analysis

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Surviving a Nuclear Winter Rarely do people live experiencing a nuclear war, so most of the survivors consider themselves as safe after the explosion; however, is the situation as simple as they assume? James Roberts "How to Survive Nuclear Winter" and Walter Van Tilburg Clark's "The Portable Phonograph" both describe in detail the terrible affects of a nuclear war that causes an unmeasurable destruction in the aftermath. Both of these authors depicts nuclear winter as a cold and desolate dangerous planet where people will have to be prepared to defend themselves with whatever weapons they can find. According to both these authors, the planet after a nuclear war will suffer a nuclear winter creating a cold and inhospitable planet. For …show more content…

For example, the doctor in the cave seems extremely uneasy after the other men leave: "With nervous hands he lowered the piece of canvas which served as a door" (Clark, 1941, p. 183). He seems really concerned that the men may return to rob his belongings or more. So much so, that at the end of the story the man seeks comfort when he felt "the comfortable piece of lead pipe" (Clark, 1941, p. 184) that he kept beside his bed for defensive purposes. In comparison, Roberts offer that "there could be widespread social disorder and chaos" (Roberts, 2007, p. 2). He further suggests that people should be "ready to protect [themselves]" (Roberts, 2007, p. 3). Both of the authors declare that in order to survive a nuclear winter, people should be ready to defend themselves. Roberts and Clark show the reader a terrible cold and risky world after the aftermath of a nuclear winter. Both suggest that the fallout from the bombs will create a frigid and desolate planet where the survivors must defend themselves from the other survivors as people try to survive anyway they can. Let's hope that these examples of a nuclear winter remain only a hypothesis and not a

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