Alas, Babylon

I love this book! Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank is classic. I learn so much more each time I read it. It is a fun and easy read while still not being piffle. I love the characters and the lessons they teach me. One character that I paid especial attention to this time was Helen.
I loved how Mark described Helen to Randy on p. 36 in my copy of the book.
She's my right arm..... She's all the woman I ever needed. She was like this: Back when I was a captain and we were moving from rented apartment to rented apartment every year or so, I got a terrific offer from Boeing. She knew what I wanted. I didn't even have to tell her. She said, “I want you to stay in SAC. I think you should. I think you ought to be a general and you're going to be a general.” There's an old saying that anyone can make it to Colonel on his own, but it takes a wife to make a general. I guess there wasn't quite enough time, but had there been, she would've had her star. …. She's all woman and that's what she's made for.
So different from how Dan Gunn's first wife was described on p. 55.
His wife apparently had been extravagant, a nympho, a one-drink alcoholic, and a compulsive gambler. She'd recoiled at the thought of living in Equatorial Africa or a delta village in India, and pestered him to set up practice in New York or Los Angeles, where the big money was. When Dan refused, she took to spending weekends in New York, an easy pick up at her favorite bar in the Fifties. So he'd been a gentleman and let her go to Reno and get the divorce. When her luck ran out she returned East, filed suit for alimony, and the judge had given her everything she'd asked. Now she lived in Los Angeles and each week shoveled the alimony into bingo games or pari-mutuel machines, and Dan's career was ended before it had begun.
Fabulous illustration on how much influence a wife can have. I want to be like Helen!

P.135 has another fabulous example of Helen the day to bombs dropped. She had been a bit panicked when it first happened, but snapped out of it when Peyton needed her and she was able to calmly handle the rest of the day. That evening, “The meal was only soup, salad, and sandwiches, but Helen had laid the table as meticulously as if Dan Gunn had agreed to stay for a late supper on an ordinary evening.” I am sure that Helen's calm and meticulous manner helped everyone deal with the emergency better. Many of the other women took resources from the community as they fell apart, but Helen contributed to the community with her food and her ability to make the home feel warm, comfortable, and somehow safe even during those first few days after the crisis. I want to be like Helen!

The final example that I'll share about Helen is how she helped nurse all the injured people in her own little community. She was a huge help to Dr. Gunn and she was quick to observe what to do and how to do it. Especially when Dr. Gunn needed the nursing, she was indispensable. Her concern and attention to Dr. Gunn ultimately saved everyone as it was her reading the journal that lead to the discovery of the salt.

If Helen would have tried to compete with the men to prove how “equal” she was, the situation would have been far worse. It is best to embrace your strengths and do what you can do. All of the characters did this and things worked out well for them. I personally want to develop more of Helen's qualities so I can live my best life whether there is an emergency or life just goes on normally.