The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham
Back in 1981, I stayed up late to watch The Day of the Triffids. It was a school night but I was willing to forgo sleep to watch this classic 1960s science fiction film. It was down to the last ten minutes when the TV station cut away for a commercial break. When it came back on, the station announcer said, “Now the exciting conclusion of The Day of the Triffids, where alien plants threaten to destroy the world, and the only way to stop them is sea water.”
Talk about your spoiler alert!
Recently, I came across the original novel by John Wyndham. No sea water this time, the novel focuses on the dissolution of society after most of the population is blinded by a curious meteor shower. The survivors – those that can see – are faced with how to rebuild the world in the face of such a calamity.
Wyndham thoughtfully examines the opposing viewpoints – what is the best way to proceed? Is it to take the moral high ground and take care of the blind, with no thought about tomorrow? Is it to set up petty fiefdoms or a military state? Is it to build self-contained compounds and drive off the outsider? Or is this the best opportunity to use education and intellect to correct the ills of society?
While there are exciting action sequences in the book, Wyndham doesn’t go for the thriller. He’s more interested in the philosophical questions. There are lengthy discussions about how society operates, which unfortunately turns some of the characters into talking heads. Only three characters – Bill Masen (the narrator), Josella, and Coker – are afforded any depth of personality.
In the novel, the triffids are not an alien life form but rather a genetically engineered plant capable of free movement. It’s equipped with a deadly stinger and uses appendages to communicate with one another through drumming on its trunk. Given the title, you would think the majority of the novel would focus on the triffids, but they are more of an opportunistic menace. Learning that the newly-blinded humans are helpless, the plants start stalking them for food. By keeping the triffids to the periphery of the main story, Wyndham makes them more sinister. It’s the concept that nature adapts and evolves to fill in a vacant niche, and now humans are lower down on the food chain.
I was reminded a lot of Jose Saramago’s novel Blindness, which also addresses the breakdown of society after a plague of blindness, and I wondered if he had read Wyndham. Also, the opening chapter of Bill Masen waking alone in a hospital apparently inspired Alex Garland’s screenplay, 28 Days Later.
Overall, a good read. Better than an alien menace. And no sea water.
Talk about your spoiler alert!
Recently, I came across the original novel by John Wyndham. No sea water this time, the novel focuses on the dissolution of society after most of the population is blinded by a curious meteor shower. The survivors – those that can see – are faced with how to rebuild the world in the face of such a calamity.
Wyndham thoughtfully examines the opposing viewpoints – what is the best way to proceed? Is it to take the moral high ground and take care of the blind, with no thought about tomorrow? Is it to set up petty fiefdoms or a military state? Is it to build self-contained compounds and drive off the outsider? Or is this the best opportunity to use education and intellect to correct the ills of society?
While there are exciting action sequences in the book, Wyndham doesn’t go for the thriller. He’s more interested in the philosophical questions. There are lengthy discussions about how society operates, which unfortunately turns some of the characters into talking heads. Only three characters – Bill Masen (the narrator), Josella, and Coker – are afforded any depth of personality.
In the novel, the triffids are not an alien life form but rather a genetically engineered plant capable of free movement. It’s equipped with a deadly stinger and uses appendages to communicate with one another through drumming on its trunk. Given the title, you would think the majority of the novel would focus on the triffids, but they are more of an opportunistic menace. Learning that the newly-blinded humans are helpless, the plants start stalking them for food. By keeping the triffids to the periphery of the main story, Wyndham makes them more sinister. It’s the concept that nature adapts and evolves to fill in a vacant niche, and now humans are lower down on the food chain.
I was reminded a lot of Jose Saramago’s novel Blindness, which also addresses the breakdown of society after a plague of blindness, and I wondered if he had read Wyndham. Also, the opening chapter of Bill Masen waking alone in a hospital apparently inspired Alex Garland’s screenplay, 28 Days Later.
Overall, a good read. Better than an alien menace. And no sea water.
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