J.G. Ballard's The Drought introduces readers to a world that is dissimilar to the world they know and love. Prior to the events of the novel, a drought of epic proportions has gripped the Earth. Ultimately, the drought was caused by humans and the companies they ran because they deposited toxic sludge from industrial runoff into oceans across the Earth. From there, a molecular film develops on the surface of the oceans, which causes the water cycle to be thrown out of whack. This drought has caused the oceans to recede and has caused the precipitation cycle to be destroyed (evaporation is also destroyed). Perhaps most significantly, large swaths of people have been killed because of this lack of water; those who have survived the initial panic struggle to survive because of the lack of water.
Ransom, the protagonist and main character of the novel, is one of the few people that has survived the drought. An intelligent man and former doctor, Ransom spends most of his life trying to survive. But unlike most of the rest of the survivors, Ransom has been unwilling to follow other survivors to the receding sea, one of the few places where water is plentiful.
At the start of the crisis, Ransom decided to move away from civilization and build himself a homestead far away from the tumult of the city. He obtains a nice houseboat and starts his life on a river. Eventually, the river begins to dissipate, causing an exodus from the area he lives in. In his new life, Ransom is constantly reminded of what society once was by the relics of society.
After the river completely dissipated, Ransom decides that he should leave the area he is living in and go towards the ocean (specifically, the so-called "dune limbo"). Once isolated, Ransom begins to integrate himself into society—a society that has changed dramatically since he was last a part of it. Their new lives and the new social order are consumed with the need to extract water from the sea—a sea that will eventually run out of water for them to drink. But Ransom realizes that the people are fighting a hopeless battle and decides to return inland once again.
Once inland, Ransom returns to the city to see what has become of society. To his amusement, Ransom finds that people have, in fact, survived in the city despite not having much water left to drink. But the people are not normal: they are mad and resemble monsters. Their appearance and behavior, however, are appropriate given the condition of the city they are living in, something which amuses and scares Ransom.
The Drought was published in 1965, long before the debate surrounding climate change became mainstream. However, The Drought was published three years after the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which exposed how the rampant use of pesticides has caused tremendous harm to the Earth. Ballard's novel was inspired by Carson's expose; Ballard's novel explores many of the same issues that Carson did in her book. Ballard's novel takes it a step further, however, and explores a world that did not stop the use of pesticides and did not stop treating the world like a dumping ground.
Though it is a "message novel," The Drought was first meant to entertain its readers. After all, if readers aren't entertained by the novel's story, they will not be able to make it all the way through the novel so they could fully digest the message.
The Drought is a deeply humanistic novel. Merriam-Webster defines humanism as "a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual's dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason." In the novel, humans are the ones that cause the climate disaster (a supernatural force doesn't cause the climate disaster). Humans created the problem; humanity must also be the ones to contend with the problem on their own.
