The similarities between the novels are the involvement with sanity and goals, while the differences are the attitude and reaction as a result of an apocalypse. Arguably, the primal threats of horrific murder, enslavement and cannibalism provoke a much more heightened physical and psychological experience, which is why only McCarthy's novel is truly about immediate life-threatening danger. .
Both novels depict the repercussions of the reckless ways people have tampered with technology or mismanaged societies. Because the characters are overwhelmed by their morbid circumstances, they often struggle with the ability to tell what is real from imaginary. In Shute's novel, the characters can not accept that they will ultimately die from radiation sickness. Describing meticulously how Dwight, Moira, Peter, Mary and John persist in believing that a future is possible, Shute manipulates versions of reality to illustrate the character's denial. At the end of chapter one, Dwight Towers and Moira Davidson share the information that their situation is "like [they are] waiting to be hung" (40), which means the characters are well aware of their fate. To respond to Moira's comment, Dwight proposes that "maybe it is, or maybe it is a period of grace" (40). Dwight's suggestion displays his acquiescence to the global threat, since nothing can be done to change the outcome anyhow. Nonetheless, Dwight chooses to believe that his wife and daughter could still be alive in America and that he will eventually be able to reunite with them, which display how Dwight's desperation blinds him into believing the impossible. Upholding his role as a faithful husband and father till the very end, Dwight informs Moira about his loyalty to his family and expresses that his wife, Sharon, "will want to meet [Moira]" (256). While the rest of the characters know that there is nothing left to do to save the world, Dwight believes that behaving responsibly is important, because he thinks that death has not and will not overtake his family yet.
