Man versus Nature
The novel asserts that man is ultimately at the mercy of nature and whatever advantage has been built up is at best a charade and that man must accept helplessness. This is the novel’s central theme and most enduring source of conflict in the lives of the characters: the struggle of man versus the forces of nature gone awry because of cosmic phenomena. Humans struggle to keep on living and adapting to a planet whose environment seems to be fully determined to wipe humanity off the record. There are conflicts experienced by the characters amongst themselves but if one looks at these human conflicts, the root of these struggles would still stem from how the characters respond to an ever increasingly hostile ecosystem and how it creates fertile ground for disagreement.
Hope for the Future versus Memories of Man’s Past
All of man’s superiority--his ability to change the course of great rivers, produce food in surplus, travel vast distances in a short period of time--are all distant memories. Sea levels have risen globally, immersing most major coastal areas and majority of the planet is now a torrid, tropical swamp and there is barely anyone still living who remembers the huge cities of mankind. Day by day, humanity begins to embrace this as the new “normal” and soon humanity begins to have collective dreams where humanity is no longer on top of the food chain but part of the daily menu. These frightening visions too over time become part of the new normal, embraced as an undeniable reality to be lived. On the other end of the spectrum however are characters that endeavor to regain humanity’s seat on the top of the food chain. The novel also suggests that humanity also shares a racial memory lodged somewhere in the human vertebrae. Here, this racial repository of memory lays the entire history of man, which, theoretically at least, can be recovered by humans. In remembering what humanity once was--particularly the grandeur of mankind’s time as the dominant sapient species of Earth--they believe that humanity would be able to march boldly into the future without devolving into savages.
Biology versus Psychology
These two branches of science vie for dominance in the novel as characters, two of them being scientists, initially try to map out the topography of the now waterlogged city of London to make updated maps as well as observe the new strains of flora and fauna that appear as a result of the changed environment. They work hard to ensure that humanity would still be able to identify the submerged cities even after a decade. Scientist in this era however begin to doubt the relevance of science as they begin to see evidence of humanity slipping down the evolutionary ladder in light of the increasing incidences of collective nightmares. In the days that pass the idea of a future where humanity still reigns supreme as the dominant sapient species grows dimmer. Eventually the characters accept that events happening globally are now beyond the scope of their ability to influence or even understand so they turn to psychology to try to produce answers. They now focus on finding answers for the plague of recurring, nearly racial nightmares featuring semi-aquatic environments filled with gigantic predatory reptiles. The scientists use this to support the theory of a racial human memory beginning to surface--a shared recollection of a time when man wasn’t apex predator--in an attempt to prepare mankind for things to come; things beyond their power to change or reason with.
A Crossroad for Humanity
Humanity finds itself at a crossroads where the future may go in either direction: there are characters that fight to preserve a way of life long gone trying to hang on to the grandeur of humanity. Other characters see human civilization as having finally come to its twilight and embrace the slow but steady decline of humanity. These diametrically opposed viewpoints drives the novel forward and in the process of fighting for their cause of choice they also learn that regardless of their perspective, current circumstances will definitely change humanity in ways never before seen--for good or for ill.
