One of the topics repeated prior to Hammerfall that helps represent the novel’s themes of social chaos as well as to foreshadow events to come is that of Charles Manson. Although Manson is mentioned only twice within the novel, the invocation of his name in this context seems hardly a coincidence. The first time the novel mentions Manson is when the authors introduce the audience to Harvey’s neighborhood, casually mentioning that Randall lives close to where Manson “proved to the world that was neither eternal nor safe” (33). Although civilization before the comet strike, at first glance, is organized and civil, we see a range of concerns that significantly refutes this view. While Randall’s neighborhood appears quaint and neighborly, rape of an eleven-year-old girl, Loretta’s murder, robbery, and even notorious conspirators like Manson severely crack this façade.
The second time Manson’s name is mentioned is when Joanna, Mark, and Frank camp out to await Hammerfall. At this point Joanna has become so terrified by the comet over the horizon that she looks as if “expecting to see Charlie Manson running at them with a chainsaw” (213). Just like Manson, the comet brings disorder and fear. And instead of presenting the audience with a stereotypical pastoral wherein the characters are safe from the collapse of LA, there is a sense that there are no longer any safe places to which one can escape.
Although Manson is not mentioned later on in the text, many of topics connected with him become more predominant as the story progresses. We see a commune that, like the Manson commune, attempts to escape societal constrictions. Then there is the brutal slaying of the Roman family, much like the murder of Sharon Tate and all at the home of Roman Polanski. Finally, we have the New Brotherhood Army under the guidance of Reverend Henry Armitage, who proclaims that the end of the world– vague relation to Helter Skelter—has come and that the survivors must cleanse the world. The reader thus becomes exposed to a scenario in which Manson family values come to fruition and any hope for normalization is under constant threat.