Other characters

Next, we will highlight the most important traits of the people at the All-Public beach and at Platinum Sands™.

The people at the All-Public beach

The people at the All-Public beach form a collective secondary character. The protagonist reveals how she and, implicitly, the rest of society, perceives them.

The protagonist calls them “all kinds of sickness” (l. 36) and “gruesome” (l. 38) and describes their physical appearance: “fat women; hairy women; pregnant women; women in polyester slacks. And the men are no better: pale men; plump men; bald men with tattoos; grizzled men with crepey skin.” (ll. 36-38). This shows that they are seen as the lowest social class in this society.

Their collective image is compared with the Third World (ll. 38-39), suggesting that they live in poverty. It remains unclear if this is true or if the protagonist perceives it as so, since the All-Public beach does not provide the same luxuries as the exclusive beaches. It does appear, however, that they are treated as second-class citizens, because the All-Public seems to be unmaintained – this is suggested by the “whiff of sweat and sewage” (ll. 30-31) and the lack of air filters (l. 32) on the beach. However, the author does not make it clear if they remain on the All-Public beach by choice or because they cannot afford the beauty treatments necessary to upgrade their membership to Silver Beach.

The collective character of the people at the All-Public beach shows that the society created by the author rejects imperfection...