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The Portable Phonograph Essay

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The joys in life have been diminished by nuclear war causing society to be overcome by sorrow, sickness, and destruction. If one were to be involved in a nuclear war, it would be a traumatic occasion. In the short story “The Portable Phonograph” by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, four men are huddled in a cave experiencing the aftermath of a great war. All habitation is left in ruins, and only a few survivors remain. With the information in the article “How to Survive Nuclear Winter” by James Roberts, one can infer what the men are struggling with. The article discusses how to survive a nuclear winter. The evidence in the short story can be corresponded with the article to describe what a nuclear winter is and what one would have to do in order to survive. …show more content…

The first sign of a nuclear winter in the short story, was when it was noticed that “the air was still and cold, and in it settled the mute darkness and greater cold of night” (Clark, 1941, p.177). The four men find themselves in very cold conditions where “a man’s breath blew white… and the expansive blizzards paraded for days over the vast...plain” (Clark, 1941, p.178). These are all clues that the men should expect to witness the harsh coldness of a nuclear winter. The article discusses that “many scientists believe that a large scale nuclear war would change the global climate in great proportion” (Roberts, 2007, p.1). There would be a considerable amount of ash and dust that would eventually construct a wall between the earth and sun. The article continues on to explain that “sunlight would have difficulty breaking through, and this would cause the temperatures to drop” (Roberts, 2007, p.1). The characters in the short story can predict to live through very severe temperatures as an after effect of the nuclear

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