"Panging hunger and
aching hearts measure these long and desolate hours.
A cold and
desolate destination.
Unknown.
Uncertain. This dry and hardened heart,
Starved of love,
starved of hope.
In search of
consolation.
"
"Waking up to a happy ending, that was our dream.
The dream that brought us here,
Stripped of all hope and glory.
Here. A tainted world that should
Only exist in the realm of story"
These speeches made by the
Shadow Man differ from all those made by him at other instances. While they
talk about the conditions in which people lived after the nuclear attack, these
monologues talk about their feelings. Any man could talk about what they saw
around themselves but an emotionally disturbed person cannot talk about how he
had been robbed of all hope for a better future. The people of Skipley were
undergoing traumatic situations. They could not go on expressing how hopeless
they feel. However, Swindells thought it mandatory to mention the low spirits
of the people. For this reason, he makes the reader view the depressed souls
through the dialogues of the Shadow Man.
