History Literature / EarthAbides

** A society formed by the descendants of black sharecroppers still offers sacrifices of cotton to long-dead white landlords, though the sharecroppers themselves have no use for it.

%%* ScavengerWorld

* Tragedy

* TragicHero: Ish becomes this in the end. ([[spoiler: His dreams of preserving knowledge and rebuilding civilization are a failure. His favored son Joey dies, the only child who took seriously to learning. The books in the library will go unread. He lives to old age to see his failure and unwillingly becomes a god-figure to a tribe of hunter gatherers. At least, he taught his people how to shoot a bow and they seem to be happy with their lot in life]])

* BrokenBird: possibly AmbiguousDisorder Evie. One of the first people Ish encounters when he starts inspecting towns is a wide-eyed teenage girl who flees at the sight of him, leading him to suspect she's been subjected to AttemptedRape.

* TimeMarchesOn: They name every year that passes, by the time the book ends it's into what would be the 1980s, not that anyone's keeping track.

* WorldHalfEmpty: what's left behind after the plague. Ish's Tribe, the only meaningful population center in what's left of San Francisco, consists of only a few dozen people (many of whom are his descendants) until decades after the Event when they merge with a similar group to the north.

* AllHailTheGreatGodMickey: One character knows that the ruins of the cities and bridges were built by people called "the Americans". He then wonders if the land and skies were built by the older Americans depicted on coins.

* CosyCatastrophe: Played straight, but also averted as a lot of survivors are shown as being in shock and as unlikely to survive - for example when the book's protagonist Isherwood Williams meets two people living the high life in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, and realizes they aren't equipped (in gear or mentality) to make it through the first winter.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

** Most of the people Ish encounters post plague are friendly, honest, and basically morally decent.

%%* ApocalypseHow

* PassingTheTorch: Ish passes on his hammer.
%%* ThePlague

* AlternateHistory: By the end of the book it is around what would have been the 1980s, but with the rusting remnants of the 1940s surrounding them.

** Most of the people Ishmael encounters post plague are friendly, honest, and basically morally decent.
* HopeSpringsEternal: Though civilization has not recovered the way Ishmael hoped it would by the time he reaches old age, he observes that despite their lack of historic knowledge, the younger generations are still carrying out a good quality life. He watches the younger members of his clan finding joy in their daily chatter and in their playtime with their dogs. [[spoiler: The clan is even beginning to connect to outside communities.]]

* HopeSpringsEternal: Though civilization has not recovered the way Ishmael hoped it would by the time he reaches old age, he observes that despite their lack of historic knowledge, the younger generations are still carrying out a good quality life. He watches the younger members of his clan finding joy in their daily chatter and in their playtime with their dogs. The clan is even beginning to connect to outside communities.

* AfterTheEnd

* ApocalypseHow

* NewEden

* ThePlague
* PostApocalypticDog: Lots.

* ScavengerWorld

* WideEyedIdealist: Isherwood.

A classic 1949 novel by George R. Stewart, which depicts the new tribal society which slowly arises in (the ruins of) Berkeley, California after most of humanity is wiped out by a viral plague. Features much rumination about ecology and human society. One of the first of the CosyCatastrophe genre, and a major influence on Creator/StephenKing's novel ''TheStand''.

* AlternateHistory: By the end of the book it is around what would have been the 1980's, but with the rusting remnants of the 1940's surrounding them.

* TimeMarchesOn: They name every year that passes, by the time the book ends it's into what would be the 1980's, not that anyone's keeping track.

* ChekhovsGun: Hiking in the Rocky Mountains researching for a paper he's writing, Isherwood Williams finds a hammer left by miners. He keeps it the whole time, and eventually the children of the tribe he founds see it as a holy relic and the symbol of leadership.

* CosyCatastrophe: Played straight, but also averted as a lot of survivors are shown as being in shock and as unlikely to survive - for example when the book's protagonist Isherwood Williams meets two people living the high life in NewYorkCity, and realizes they aren't equipped (in gear or mentality) to make it through the first winter.