Language

The language of the story “On the Beach” by Bret Easton Ellis is simple and colloquial, revealing an affectionless style. Although the events are dramatic (the narrator’s girlfriend is dying), the language is detached, casual, and even insensitive at times: “…and her body was supple, carefully muscled, aerobicized, and now she basically looks like shit.” (…

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Similes

Two similes convey what the dying girlfriend looks like, emphasizing her sickly aspect: “flesh that has the same color as milk” (l. 56) and “like a tall skeleton” (ll. 61-62).

To convey the idea that the narrator feels detached an…

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Repetition

Repetitions are used occasionally in the text. For instance, repetition is used to convey how people behave at parties (Spago is a famous restaurant): “..someone screeching ‘Let's do Spago, let's do Spago’ in a fake high voice, over and over again.” (ll. 11-13)

But repetition is also used to convey deeper meanings, such as the narrator’s fear of death—th…

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Symbols

The most important symbols in the short story are the beach and the horse rider.

The beach is where the action is set, as the narrator’s dying girlfriend lives her last weeks on the beach, constantly taking in the sun and looking at the ocean. In this context, the beach becomes sy…