Book Review: The Wall, by John Lanchester (2019)

I was directed to this book after listening to a discussion with its author on the Talking Politics podcast. From this I knew that The Wall tackles the subject of climate change, and the possible catastrophic scenarios the world and all life on it could come to face. This is obviously a very pressing issue, as well as a contentious and highly complex one, so I was keen to find out what kind of a statement this Booker Prize-longlisted work had to make.

The answer is a relatively concise story, a pretty unrealistic one, that is very short on detail. In fact, it is nearly possible to conceive of somebody reading the book and not making the link between the happenings in the plot and global warming. The premise is based on societal collapse brought about by significant sea level rises. As a result, a concrete wall has been constructed around the perimeter of the United Kingdom, presumably to keep the sea out, but also to keep out ‘the Others’, who are climate-displaced refugees desperate to reach the relative safety and dry land that exists inside the wall. In order to repel ‘the Others’, young people are required to serve a two-year shift guarding the wall (two weeks on, two weeks off), with the task of killing any ‘Others’ who attempt to scale the defence. (Unfortunately, we are not told if this very definite hard border has been constructed on the island of Ireland!) One of these young ‘defenders’, as they are known, is ‘Kavanagh’, the story’s narrator. Now, presumably to enforce discipline, vigilance is maintained on the wall with the threat that, if you fail to prevent an ‘Other’ getting over the defence, you will be cast out to sea, with a one out for every one in policy. Unfortunately for Kavanagh and his fellow squad members, this is the fate that awaits them. So, despite demonstrating that they are good and able defenders, a serious breach of the section of wall they are defending leads to Kavanagh, his girlfriend Hifa, and a number of others being cast adrift in a lifeboat with a limited supply of rations. Life outside the wall is tough and precarious. They initially find refuge with a group of people who have built a floating community on water sheltered by an island. For reasons that are somewhat unclear, it is impossible for anybody to make land on this island. The book states that the rise in sea level has eradicated all beaches from the planet, and activities such as surfing have become a thing of the past. I don’t quite see why this should be the case, unless the extent of sea level rise has been ultra-extreme, but even then, I’m not convinced. Anyway, the period of existence in the community, living off dried seagull meat and seaweed is brought to a violent end by pirates. Kavanagh and Hifa end up alone in the lifeboat, and eventually find refuge again at the end of the story on a well-stocked oil platform.

A key point the story seems to make is a clear distinction between the young (those born after ‘the change’) and the old (those born before it), with the young very much blaming older generations for ruining the planet, and relations between parents and their children practically irresolvable as a consequence. This outcome of climate change, with bitter repercussions surrounding blame and responsibility, is conceivable enough, but then it must be considered – with which generation is it reasonable to draw the line of guilt and innocence, and is it fair to assume that the last generation who were able to live relatively normally prior to catastrophic social and environmental collapse are the most blame worthy? I don’t think so. That would be like saying Greta Thunberg’s generation, those shouting the loudest at present, will be the one’s most scorned forty or fifty years down the line, should the worst come to pass – as is beginning to look inevitable. This would seem wholly unfair. We are currently in the critical window of time in which the aversion of catastrophe remains possible. This window stretches back the decade or so in which the evidence for climate change has been irrefutable, and, critically, the time we have left to preserve the planet as we know it seems to be rapidly running out. Thus, it is us, living now, burning oil, flying planes and cutting down trees, fully aware of the outcome of our actions, who will be the most implicated. Yet this too is an oversimplification, and in many cases also very unfair. Climate change is not the fault of any single identifiable group or generation, and the challenge of averting it is close to insurmountable given the sheer number of human beings, however well-minded and careful they are, that are now living on Earth’s finite resources. If there is a solution it has to come through technology, and it has to be on a vast scale, quick, and effective. Something like pumping carbon out of the atmosphere that is tentatively being trialled, or somehow shielding the atmosphere to prevent further warming, as is sometimes mooted. And if fingers of blame are to be pointed in the years to come, they should surely pick out our current global leaders, this generally depressing, uninspiring group of people who are in position to make difficult decisions, but consistently demonstrate that they are incapable of it. If any of them read The Wall, will it make a difference? – Sadly not. 

Favourite character: Hifa – she always seemed to be able to say or do the right thing at the right time.