Social Problems from the Novel One Second After

A social problem refers to a condition in the society, which some people view as undesirable. A social problem is a form of evil, which causes dissatisfaction to some members of the society if not all. In this case, different people and groups have different views concerning a social problem, some people may feel that a certain condition is undesirable, which others feel this condition is fine. For instance, the young people in the society feel comfortable when playing round music, while the elderly dislike the behavior. Additionally, smokers find it right to smoke in public, while non-smokers dislike the behavior. However, some social problems are common to all people in the society. Actions of murder, robbery and rape are considered evil in the entire society. In his well-documented novel, One Second After Williams Forstchen has courageously exposed the social problems in American society. The author has used characters, themes, symbols and tones to reveal social problems faced by the society at large. Williams   Forstchen explains how the unanticipated Electronic Magnetic Pulse occurs to be in the United States and its effects on the society. The author focuses on a small town in Carolina known as BlackMountain. There is a lot of pollution, deaths, suffering, rapes, insecurity, unclear wars and climate change.

The novel One Second After appears a warning book. This means that, its sub-genre helps to use a strong setting and characters to reveal social problem in the society. The point of this novel is dramatizing a likely coming crisis. The novel appears to be honest and real. The main character in the novel is a widower rising up two daughters. One of her teenage daughters is infected with diabetes. Here is a disagreement, when Civilization dies suddenly. Death comes as a result of a nuclear blast. The high atmosphere explosion causes an Electronic Magnetic Pulse. This explosion affects the entire society and destroys all forms of electronics. Cars, medicine production, refrigeration, modern mass communication and hospitals are instantly destroyed. The novel monitors the year following the destruction of electronics. This results into a series of terrible occurrences and a fight for an overpopulated and spoiled nation to persist. Williams   Forstchen has written the novel with strong characters and genuine moments. He even uses a dog character, which is a tragic action. He warns people of new dangers and existing social problems in the society (Forstchen, 2009).  

Terrorism is a social evil conducted with an aim of instilling fear to the innocent public. Terrorists are interested in the public in airing their points. They conduct undesirable behaviors, which leave the public dying with pain. They do not face the government or the military forces directly. Instead, they punish the public so that the government can listen to their grievances. In the novel, One Second After, it is not known who exploded the Electronic Magnetic Pulse. Most probably, the person did it with an intention of instilling fear to the public. All electronic devices are destroyed and cannot function again. This makes the public suffer as they cannot use phones, cars, medicine production, refrigeration, modern mass communication, and hospitals lifesaving machines. This is a social evil, which can cause pain to the public. The terrorists feel comfortable when the public are suffering. They believe their ideologies will be heard and fulfilled appropriately.

There are many methods of murder in the society. Hundreds of people are killed every day by others. This is a social problem, which is undesirable in every society. Every community believes that life is sacred and should not be taken away unless the Supreme Being does it at his ripe time. However, there are many malicious people in the society, who have decided to take lives from their colleagues. Death causes a lot of instability in the society. Moreover, a natural death is easily acceptable and quick to cope with as compared to murder. People believe that it is wrong to kill. It takes the society and the family members of the beloved a long time to heal. People kill others for their selfish interests. Some do it so that they can hide a secret, which is likely to be revealed by another person. Others do it out of jealous. Others do it for noting as they are naturally evil. In this novel, the person, who released the EMP, was a murderer in one way or another. At first, destroying electronic devices took away many lives. Those, who were in life supporting machines, died instantly. The BlackMountain town stops to function. Patients on life support system are the first vulnerable people. They died even before the medical experts could understand what was happening.

It is unethical and morally wrong to make people in the society suffer. The role of a society is to protect individuals from harm and offer support when needed. People depend on each other for survival. Therefore, it is a social problem for a group of people or an individual to make others suffer at the expense of helping them in problems. However, the society has a number of evil people, who feel good, when their fellow human beings are suffering. This is considered undesirable by most people, while those causing suffering enjoy doing it. After the EMP, many people in the society were left suffering. Early fatalities, which witnessed the pain and suffering, include people with pacemakers and those, who depend on dialysis. Cancer and Diabetics patients were exposed to untold pain and suffering.  Nursing homes and schools were left without electricity, refrigeration and air conditioning. These institutions quickly became unsafe and unsanitary. Additionally, concerns about drinking water and food increased. This gave robbers and thieves a chance to loot homes and businesses. Within three days, the stores had been raided. This forced the distressed civic officials to implement martial law. The event caused money to become worthless. It gradually converted BlackMountain to a barter trade system, where cigarettes, canned goods and bullets became mediums of exchange. Refugees, who come to look for help, are left to suffer, when some people benefit with high profits.

Rape is not only a social problem, but also a crime. This is the most humiliating action, which leaves the victim traumatized for the rest of her life. It is ethically wrong to have sex with a person, who is not willing to do it. The action affects the victim’s mental, psychological, physical and emotional status. The victim feels hated and misused. There are many effects of rape in the individual’s life. First and foremost, the victim is likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease or even HIV/Aids. Secondly, the individual is physically tortured as she tries to save herself from the rapist. The effects of rape are long term and they traumatize the individual for the rest of her life. She might not succeed in her marriage as she dislikes all men. Rape can also cause unwanted pregnancies. Most rape victims fear going to the hospital as the act that is too humiliating to narrate. This causes the impregnated victim to give the birth to a child, who will never be accepted either by the society, or the mother. A constant level of suspense and tension in One Second After is presented by Forstchen’s unambiguous representation of the town’s immediate descent into ruthless savagery. John Matheson, as well as the civic leaders of the BlackMountain struggle to preserve the primary principles, which created the country. Unfortunately, they are recurrently forced to confess that civilization’s insubstantial appearance is being stripped away. At the same time, reports start to arrive regarding brutal armies consisting of thousands of armed, as well as the desperate persons, who are moving increasingly towards western the North Carolina. Additionally, the main group, referred to as the Posse, was practicing anthropophagi that had left a frightening wake of murder, rape and devastation behind them. Rumors were saying that a similar group was impending from Tennessee. This illustration shows how people were raped and tortured. There was rumor that a similar group with such behavior was approaching. This clearly shows that rapists are in the society and always fulfill their urge in the wrong way. In the current world, rape is being used as a weapon of war. The armies capture women and harass them sexually as a weapon. This is wrong and unacceptable. Sex is for pleasure and should only be done if both parties have agreed and are ready for it.

It is the responsibility of every person in the society to take care of the environment. Human beings depend on the environment for survival. Everything they use on a daily basis is gained from the environment. In fact, without nature, human beings could not survive. Food, water, medicine, shelter and all other human needs are gifts of nature. In this case, it is a social problem to destroy the environment. Most people in the society value the environment and can do anything possible to preserve it. On the other hand, there are people, who do not care for the environment at all. Instead, they conduct behavior, which only devastates the environment. This is evident in all societies. The future of nature is endangered. The future generation is likely to face a completely polluted environment if great care is not taken. Briefly defined, Electronic Magnetic Pulse refers a nuclear weapons approach, which would make the entire society helpless by destroying country’s computer and electronic technology. A nuclear projectile is designed to explode about twenty miles above the surface of the targeted country. The strategy is established to erase computer-dependent technologies. Within a single second of the blast, a shock wave is likely to short-circuit each electrical device, which it touched. The results are too devastating for the society and the environment. In-flight planes crash, motorized vehicles stop, and communications devices, such as televisions, telephones and radio stop working. The country’s populations in BlackMountain were unaware of the happenings until they confronted the consequences. These consequences destroyed the environment largely. Trees were cut, noise pollution, dust, stalled cars, destroyed phones and loss of mass communications took place.

Hoarding food, water and medication services are a social evil. Life should be respected and some selfish people should not hide food, water or health facilities so that they can benefit with them later. However, there are people in the society, who are inhuman. They hoard basic needs and let others suffer silently. Some people suffer starvation, while the selfish are hiding thousand kilograms of food in store. They let people die and sell the food with a high price to increase profit. It pains those with human heart, while they see others dying and cannot afford to help them. It is not only painful to see fellow human beings dying of hunger but also traumatizing. The person witnessing such behavior is left questioning the personality of the people causing such pain to others. When reading the novel One Second After, the reader cannot afford to forgive those, who let others die of starvation. Before the novel has run its course, Matherson John finds all of his most precious principles challenged. Undoubtedly, Matherson had not predicated the painful conclusions he would face as the BlackMountain’s military advisor. He closes his eyes the killing of the invaders and serves as the assassin. At one time, he even helps in changing his cherished school into a military base. This is where his earlier students act as the last obstacle between his town and the Posse. He observes loved ones perish of starvation. He ultimately implements strategies that result in the deliberate withholding of medication and food for persons, who are fated to perish anyway.

Modern technology has become a necessity in the modern world. It is evil to deny people’s basic needs in the society. There are some essential needs, through which a society cannot survive without. There exist a group of evil people, who enjoy themselves, when others are suffering. This is why we always have life lines destroyed and other essential needs damaged. Without electronics, machines vehicles will not run. The society cannot move necessities in absence of modern transportation. Without electronics, here will be no computers, radios, phones or televisions. This means that people will not communicate with each other. Additionally, without electricity or vehicles, the society will grow food neither will they run factories and industries. In One Second After, the society is denied electricity and other electronic devices. This causes lack of food, water and medicine. This leads to mass death and suffering. The society crumbles. Towns and cities turn against each other and the landscape. Neighbors and friends turn against each other in a distressed struggle to live. Criminals take advantage of the situation and conduct more evils. Forstchen humanizes these events by giving a comprehensive observation at how events develop around the MontreatCollege. The author uses resounding detail to make the occurrences real (Forstchen, 2009).

War and conflict are social evils, which not only destroy the relationship between or among the conflicting parties, but also cause social, economic, environmental and political strains. People in the society disagree as a result of incompatible goals or interest. Sometimes, the conflicting parties may end up in violent war, which is more destructive as compared to non-violent conflict. Whichever the way is, conflicts in the society are harmful and destructive. However, there is something the society can do to avoid conflicts. It is, therefore, important to try and solve the conflict before it worsens. Wars and conflicts result in deaths, destruction of property and damage of social cohesion.  In One Second After, people started conflicting and fighting for the scarce resources left after the bomb blast. Towns and cities turn against the each other and the landscape. Neighbors and friends turn against each other in a distressed struggle to live. Criminals take advantage of the situation and conduct more evils. There was a war in every home, town, village and the entire country. Everyone was struggling to survive with the little resources, which had not been destroyed. Many people died and others were injured. There was looting and violence in all parts.

Ignorance is a social problem. It is important for every member of the society to be informed. Ignorance has caused many people to suffer as they were engaged in activities with no information of the harmful effects of the activities. Additionally, ignorance makes the society to be vulnerable. Whenever a hazardous event occurs in a society that has no information on how to take precautions, the society is likely to be affected negatively. A well informed society will know how to deal with a risk and come out of the event successfully. In One Second After, most of the people in the society were not prepared to the explosion of Electronic Magnetic Pulse. This made the society to be too vulnerable. Ignorance made the society to suffer more losses than they could have suffered if they had the right information. The society was overwhelmed by this event and could not manage to solve it using the already existing resources. This is why people started fighting and conflicting. It would be a different case if the society had enough knowledge on how to deal with such an event. It is advisable for the society to prepare in advance and be resilient to such occurrences. Knowledge saves a society from being victims, casualties and refugees after a hazardous occurrence. The author of the novel reveals how the American society is not prepared to face the consequences of a disaster. There is a frightening message in this novel. This is a warning tale. It reveals that the worst dismays depicted here are simply forecasts based on unlimited studies of what could happen to America should it abruptly lose all of its compounds and technical advances in a single blinding flash. The country is pampered, William R. Forstchen points out, cosseted by an unlimited web of electronic marvels. Unfortunately, Americans are pitifully vulnerable. In fact, the society is so vulnerable that 80% of the population would die before they could adapt to a new world with no technology.

Insecurity is another social problem in almost every society. Nowadays, people feel insecure as they walk on the streets despite the time of the day. Insecurity increases at night. People fear being attacked and robbed off their property. There are malicious people in the society, who always have pleasure in harassing others. They beat others, kill, rape and kidnap. This makes life uncomfortable in the society. In the novel, One Second After, Williams Forstchen exposes insecurity in the society. People kill each other and fight as they struggle to exist. Additionally, the armies, which are expected to protect the society, have failed. They rape and harass people at the expense of protecting them. Criminals take advantage of the bomb blast and fulfill their evil desires. There is too much insecurity in this society. Many people have lost their lives, property destroyed and homes and business looted. Additionally, it is out of insecurity that the person, who explodes the bomb, gets such a chance. If there was enough security in the town, the person would have been detected and stopped from doing such a woeful action.

One social problem leads to another problem in the society. In this case, social problems appear to be complementary. When one happens, it definitely causes others to occur. This is why there is no stability in the society. When the refugees from the cities showed up searching for shelter, food and water, there was much instability in the city. They fought over scarce resources leading to home invasion, more violence-related and confrontation. The society becomes an appealed target for the escaped detainees. They organized gangs, as well as more war-related die-off. The allocation cards are given to preserve the little remaining food. Notwithstanding the society’s slowly starves causing the elder and the sick to die off first, parents starve to death as they try to spare food for the sake of their children. This period is full of endless suicides. Only 20% of the population had survived within a period of one year. On average, the die-off rate in the country was 90%. The disaster only left 30 million people surviving out of the initial population of 300 million America’s population. Midwest had the greatest population surviving, since it has enough food. 50% of the population in Midwest survived. Florida  and New York City were the most affected, where only 5% survived. High die-off rate in these two cities was a result of their large populations, aftermath disasters, such as hurricanes, lack of air conditioning, widespread transmission of disease and a high elderly population (Forstchen, 2009).

Social problems in the society have been here since time in memorial. It is practically impossible to live in a society, which is free from social evils. Therefore, it is vital for the society to have humanitarian assistance and experienced people, who will help people manage a disaster whenever it arises. These people should have courage and guide the population on the steps to take in saving lives and where possible property. John Matherson is the protagonist in the novel One Second After. He has enough military experience and he is a teacher at Montreat-Anderson College. John Matherson decided to give up the promising military career to take care of his ill wife at home. He brought her back to Black Mountain. By the time his wife died, Matherson had become a famous veteran and instructor of Desert Storm. He was one of the most famous people in the small town. People trusted his skills and called him to help whenever they were faced by a disaster or a risky event. After this disaster, Matherson and other civic leaders found themselves rationing water, food and patrolling the city. They collected the fire arms and mobilized vehicles, which operated without computer the technology. The bordering of the United States, in a moment has been terrified back in the ages of 19^th century. Thus, the discussion in the book indicates that the 21^st century population was not at all ready to survive under the 19^th century circumstances. After some times, Matherson comments that the victims own the technology that dated back to the early 16^th century. Matherson's instant issue is his young daughter, who is a victim of diabetes. Without a stable provision of insulin, this necessitates refrigeration.

Modern technology has transformed the world into a small village. People can communicate with each other verbally irrespective of the geographical distance between them. This is enabled by electronic devices and computer technology. This has eased communication, business, governance and other sectors. It can be the hardest thing for the world to go back to the 17^th century, when computer technology was not applicable in the world. In this case, destroying electronic devices in one nation does not only cause harm to that particular nation, but the universe at large. It destroys all plans and strategies, which have taken a lot of time and money to build. Therefore, the entire world has to take this into consideration. The novel One Second After shed light to the consequences of explosion of electromagnetic pulse. It warns the entire universe of the harm of one malicious person in the society can harm the entire world. He explores the pain the society would go through if such an occurrence happens. This warns the society to be informed on how they can prevent adverse consequences of such an event.

The story's concentrates quickly shift to how the society as a whole reacts. Matherson remains a respected foreigner with his armed experience standing as college professor, and his degree of headedness are valued by the town's inhabitants. There exist hundreds of trapped motorists, whose trucks and cars have only rolled to a stop on the nearby interstate highway. There is an instant growing issue concerning the leaders of the community and food soon begin speculating how these various thousand people are going to be given food for any substantial period. No freezers or refrigerators are running and no trucks and cars are bringing fourth fresh provisions every day. Issues immediately arise regarding the nursing hospital in town, the place, where Matherson's elderly cancer stricken father-in-law lives. The frail and elderly requires refrigerated medicines, and various need constant health nursing care. The electromagnetic pulse has put off the nursing home's standby generator that cannot be ignited. There exist no AM/FM broadcasting radio, no Internet, no television and therefore, no communication at all with everyone outside the town remains viable. Though, two months afterwards, a working aged telephone is introduced to bond Black Mountain with Swannanoa, which is the nearby town of North Carolina. The family members of Matherson's late love are small scale car aerial, who happens to own a Ford Edsel, a model of 1959, in addition to this, the two vehicles are so old-school that the EMP could not impact on them, since they are not modern EMP- conscious electronics, like the transistors. Another local inhabitant has a vintage airplane, which later proves to be very useful, as it is also too old that it has no susceptible electronics.

Without modern supplies and sanitation, diseases surge. Small wounds become gravely infected, and the society has soon exhausted its provision of antibiotics. The communal order in BlackMountain initiates to smash down. It is quite late to plant and wait to harvest crops. This makes a moot point, since fewer people in the section knows how to cultivate anyway. Rapidly, skills that have not been required in various generations have proven critically important. The town should organize its able-bodied and young to guard itself from a marauding gang of cannibals, who ultimately attack the society, and as a result, a deadly and battle emerges. After a little while, the tremendous shortage of food supplies necessitates tough choices concerning rationing; who acquires how quantity food and the specific people, who are to be purposely underfed to the extent of starvation. More and more, Matherson is pressurized by conditions to suppose a growing leadership position as the condition continues to worsen. Matherson, along with a little other try their best to maintain a balance between the multiple necessities of rationing scarce resources, maintaining rule and order in total with individual freedom, and as personal responsibility, and moral behavior amongst deeply worsening social and physical conditions.

After one year, the U.S. army arrives to aid and rebuild the town. It is open that the EMP devastated the neighboring United States that was produced by the three nuclear missiles that were launched from the offshore in container ships. One of the missiles was initiated from the Gulf of Mexico and exploded in the upper ambience over Kansas, Ohio and Utah. The ship container was immersed by the explosion instantly after the missile was launched; no marks remained of concerning, who was responsible directly for this hostile attack. A subsequent missile was launched from off the cost of Icelandic and exploded over Russia. Another missile was exploded over South Korea and Japan . The U.S. government noted to have supposed that an alliance among North Korea and Iran  was responsible for these attacks, and that the United States attacked North Korea and Iran with nuclear arms in retaliation. However, it was also commented that the U.S. took off all of its abroad military forces rear to the US to assist in humanitarian work and rebuilding the country. It is also exposed that EMP attacks brought down the Air Force One and, therefore, killing the President of the United States.

Social problems in the society leave conspicuous marks, which can be seen. It is possible to tell the society, which has endless social problems. First of all, there are many deaths reported in the area. People are peaceless and keep conflicting and fighting amongst them. The town inhabitants were vulnerable to natural, social and technological disasters as a result of ignorance. There is instability in all social sectors. Education, health, sanitation and safety are devastated. There was information vacuum in the society as portrayed by Forstchen. Despite the fact that the United States had been attacked, the society could not identify the enemy. They wondered whether it was China, North Korea or Iran. There were so many questions in the mind of the people. They wondered whether other parts of the world were attacked and whether the war would ever come to an end. The unknown doom of the United States and BlackMountain caused large numbers of people to become refugees. Huge numbers of people moved from Atlanta, Winston-Salem and Charlotte. Within the matter of days, Marion Morganton, Asheville and Old Fort were reduced to tormented fiefdoms, which endeavor with little victory to maintain accommodating relationships with the other towns, while trying to rebound migrating crowds and prevent their supplies, such as water, food and medication from destruction.
The outburst of nuclear bombs in the air by anonymous enemy emitted electromagnetic pulses, which permanently and instantly disable all electronic devices in the United States, inflicting havoc. According to Forstchen's, Americans are like men of war. In this compelling and well-crafted story, the author concentrates on a single man's fight to protect his wife and children in an insulated North Carolina town. This reminds the reader of how helpless the society would be without the modern technology. This is a chilling notion as Electromagnetic Pulse is an actual threat to America and other industrialized states. Without modern supplies and sanitation, diseases surge. Small wounds become gravely infected, and the society has soon exhausted its provision of antibiotics. The communal order in BlackMountain initiates to smash down. It is quite late to plant and wait to harvest crops. This makes a moot point, since fewer people in the section knows how to cultivate anyway. Rapidly, skills that have not been required in various generations have proven critically important. The town should organize its able-bodied and young to guard itself from a marauding gang of cannibals, who ultimately attack the society, and as a result, a deadly and battle emerges. After a little while, the tremendous shortages of food supplies necessitate tough choices concerning rationing; who acquires how quantity food, and the specific people, who are to be purposely underfed to the extent of starvation. More and more, Matherson is pressurized by conditions to suppose a growing leadership position as the condition continues to worsen. Matherson, along with a little other try their best to maintain a balance between the multiple necessities of rationing scarce resources, maintaining rule and order in total with individual freedom, and as personal responsibility, and moral behavior amongst deeply worsening social and physical conditions.

One year after the EMP attacks, the United States as described as having about thirty million survivors, 90 percent from a unique pre-attack mass of three million. The People's Republic from China is occupying the west coast of the Unite States with about 500,000 strong civilians force, while Mexico got the American Southwest and Texas under military inhabitants, as a protectorate alongside China. The book also highlights the increasingly final relationship that Matherson establishes with one single and childless nurse, Turner Makala, who was trapped by the pulse. The book's basis sets the phase for a sequence of die-offs. The first occurs within a week time (those in assisted living and hospitals). After about fifteen days, salmonella persuaded cholera and typhoid fever obtained from eating contaminated food, generally poor sanitation, and drinking tainted water. Americans have survived in an environment, which is of easy hygiene, antibiotics and sterilization, making them major targets for the third-world infections. The shortage of poor diet and bathing will lead to the increased feminine hygiene diseases; deep cuts, dog bites go untreated with antibiotics, rusty nail punctures, tetanus shots, or rabies treatment as many die from often infections.

Critical medical provision and food smugglers and others are performed in public as an enforcement of martial rule of law. In thirty days, drug-dependent patients and cardiac patients die off. In sixty or so days later, type one diabetic and the pacemaker patients start to die. The 5 percent of population with severe psychotic diseases that do not have medication no longer will create mayhem. Fixed wood-burning jikos leads to carbon monoxide suffocations and fires that could not be controlled because of to the inadequate of a fire fighting departments.

In conclusion, social problems are conditions in the society, which are termed as evil. Some people in the society cannot accept these conditions as they are life threatening. On the other hand, some individuals or a group of people in the same society term these conditions as fine. The society has many social problems, such as murder, rape, robbery, smoking in public, destruction of environment and many others. It is unethical and morally wrong to let some people in the society to suffer. Social problems leave many people to suffer and others lose their lives. Life is sacred and should be protected instead of making human being suffer. Malicious people in the society will never be forgiven for their evil deeds. In his One Second After Williams Forstchen has exposed the social problems in American society. He has used characters, themes, symbols and tones to reveal social problems faced by the society at large. Williams Forstchen explains how the unanticipated Electronic Magnetic Pulse occurs to be in the United States and its effects on the society. The author focuses on a small town in Carolina known as BlackMountain. There is a lot of pollution, deaths, suffering, rapes, insecurity, unclear wars and climate change. The author concentrates on a single man's fight to protect his wife and children in an insulated North Carolina town.