A key theme of Leave the World Behind is that an apocalyptic event would likely not look like our assumptions; rather than the mass chaos that is often depicted in fictional portrayals of apocalypses, it is a slow, almost banal process driven by confusion and disconnection from rational explanation that happens to each person individually. It is also an event without a protagonist, as is revealed by the way the characters individually try to assert themselves as the center of the narrative in their own minds and ultimately find themselves lacking the agency or heroism to act in a way that can change the course of events, even for their immediate community.

Until the last chapters of the novel, the apocalypse that the characters are facing often takes a back seat to the characters’ interpersonal clashes, which is driven by their individual desires to control the situation. It is only as Archie grows ill that the adults’ worry about their position within the power structure of the community starts to fade into a more communal attitude, but even then, the social dynamics continue to hinge on personal agenda: Ruth’s desire to not play the helpmeet to a White family, G.