Nation: Difference between revisions

Soon, other survivors begin to arrive and more things are stirring. There will be trials, terrors, and secrets revealed, and always the forever danger of Locaha, the God of Death.

A stage version, adapted by Mark Ravenhill, debuted in 2009.

** Less on the Grandmothers, more on the Grandfathers; the grumpy old men can't even hear someone respond, while the grannies are more sanity and helpfulness.

* [[Arc Words]]: ''"Does Not Happen"'' is said by more people than just Mau and ''"End of the World"'' {{spoiler|is referenced : geographically (Nation/England, mythologically, (the flood from the time when things were otherwise), culturally with Daphne's new life, Mau's with the wave and Locha's other worlds.}}

** Of course, {{spoiler|that's the whole point of the offer.}}

* [[Atlantis]]: One possible interpretation.

* [[Colourful Theme Naming]]: The Gentlemen of Last Resort -- Mr. Black, Mr. Brown, Mr. Amber, and Mr. Red.

* [[Coming of Age Story]]: Quite literally for Mau, as he was in-between being a child and man. In fact, he thought he lost his "child soul" and would gain a "man soul" when he got back to the Nation... but when he did, everyone was dead. So afterwards, the other survivors call him the Boy Without a Soul.

* [[Cool Old Lady]]: Mrs. Gurgle (called so because Daphne can't pronounce her real name).

* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Cookie

* [[Deliberately Cute Child]]: although it doesn't happen onscreen, it's hinted that Daphne is not above pulling this when she has to. There's an interesting flashback when, as a child, she corners a particularly-[[Jerkass]] cousin, tells him to stop his antics, and [[Wounded Gazelle Gambit|promptly bursts into tears when the adults arrive]]. (The narrative also notes that her family could never have survived as long as it did without a mean streak.)

* [[Don't Explain the Joke]]: Daphne's father makes the critical mistake of trying explain an [[Incredibly Lame Pun]], only to have the Gentlemen of the Last Resort tell him it wasn't funny. Of course, he's {{spoiler|king now}}, so they tell it to him in a more polite manner.

* [[Don't Try This At Home]]: There's an afterword discussing the truth behind some implausible-sounding things that happen in the story; most of them are accompanied with warnings that you should not try this at home. The last one ends, instead, with "Whether you try it at home is up to you."

* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]:

* [[Embarrassing First Name]]: Daphne, who is ''not'' Ermintrude.

** And vice-versa: he won't eat their diet...

* [[Everybody's Dead, Dave]]: Not only with Mau being the last survivor of the Nation, but with Daphne, too. And Europe (and America, it is hinted at) is being ravaged by the "Russian influenza."

* [[Far Side Island]]: Referenced.

* [[Flat Earth Atheist]]: After the wave, Mau steadfastly refuses to believe in the gods...even as the ghosts of the Grandfathers shout in his ear. Even as he ''talks to Locaha, the God of Death''. In the end, it is said that he believes "Imo made us smart enough to realize he didn't exist."

{{quote| Everything ''that can happen must happen, and everything that can happen must have a world to happen ''in''.''}}

* [[Parental Abandonment]]:

*** Not so much the coffin as the fact that her little brother will be separated from his mother in death...

** [[Disappeared Dad]]: Daphne's father went off to be the head of a colony. She was going to follow him a few months later, but then the wave happened...

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Daphne's father, who works all night in his role as a Foreign Office minister, shows every signs of becoming one of these.

** The chiefs of the island civilizations are implied to have a large role in all of the island's battles.

* [[Sibling Seniority Squabble]]:

{{quote| 'Which of you is the older?'<br />

* [[Translation Convention]]: Mau's language is rendered as English. So, obviously, is Daphne's English. This makes it a bit odd when they both appear to speak the same language but can't understand one another.

* [[Unexpected Successor]]: Daphne, to the throne of England.

{{quote| Henry: "Me? ... What, all of them? ... What about Uncle Bernie? I know for a fact that he is in America! ... They have lions there?"}}

* [[The Voiceless]]: The Unknown Woman and some of the other survivors. They have good reason.

* [[Witch Doctor]]: Mrs. Gurgle

* [[Women's Mysteries]]: Which include the secret of beer, which is for when a woman has had "too much husband" (needs to get him out of her hair for a while). This causes problems for Mau when the Grandfathers demand their beer.

** Of course, there is still a god of death, and there are ghosts, so it could be debated.

*** Since these are treated as subjective experiences by traumatized characters, and don't seem to possess any ability to influence the physical world, the leaning is still towards science.