Our class section paid particular attention to this short story. One comment that came to my mind after class involved the closing paragraphs. To me, the beach represented a time before the war. The husband and wive are representations of their former selves on the beach and they can “scarcely distinguish” (p. 37) the two objects out at see which are themselves during/after war represented by the war ships. War changes people so much that they cannot even recognize or distinguish their former self even after war is over. Overall, The Beach story is an excellent representation of the horrors of war and how it changes people to the point where they cannot even recognize themselves.