The Day Of The Triffids Essay, Research Paper

This essay will discuss the novel The Day of the Triffids by

John Wyndham and an opinion on the novel.

The novel begins as Bill wakes up, Bill knows something

isn’t right. Things are too quiet. The hectic bustling commuter noises of a normal Wednesday morning aren’t working their way through his window. The nurses who attend to recently operated upon eyes have yet to show signs of themselves. In a panic by his blindness, Bill decides to tear the bandages from his eyes so that he can finally see what has happened. It is not a good sight. He soon discovers that the entire population of the hospital, of London, and most likely the entire world has gone blind. On the previous night, the Earth passed through the tail of a comet. It was to cause such a green light, that almost everyone went out to watch; unfortunately it was the last thing they would ever see. This blindness almost causes society to crumble. Among the few remaining individuals that could see, Bill finds himself between groups who want to use the sighted in order work for and feed the blind, and those who want to leave London and rebuild society with the little resources they still have. Surrounded all this chaos and death, Bill soon realizes that there’s another threat facing people which are the triffids. A species of plants, the carrion triffids soon begin to take advantage of humanity’s misfortune; and Bill begins to worry that the more fit triffids might soon be the ones to inherit the Earth.

It’s tough trying to get someone to read The Day of the Triffids. You start telling them about it and at first they’re interested by the opening , they’ll get into the idea of the world going blind and, then you bring in the giant man eating plants and you’ve lost them. It’s even worse if they remember the cheesy movie based on it from the Sixties. Title aside, the triffids really aren’t the main part of this story.. The focus of the story is society and what happens to it when one of its strengths is taken away. The reader watches the quick crumbling of civilized order, and begins pulling for the characters to somehow survive in their dangerous surroundings. Wyndham’s narration is a stiff style that dates the novel, to its early Fifties origins, but only adds to the novel’s charm. The Day of the Triffids is a novel that rises above its campy monster trappings to be one of the most exciting works

In conclusion I hope you see what a good novel this really is and its encouraged to read it for yourself.