The day of the Triffids isn't really about giant man eating plants at all, because if it was, it would be a ridiculous idea. The mental image of a 7 foot tall green stalk doing a strange swaying motion blundering blindly along is not really very scary - or so you would think. I suppose I was expecting a book about alien life forms that came to earth looking like giant plants and try to take over. This in the end led to a war between man and plant which eventually ended in man's victory. I was prepared for the characteristic 'rebel group' led by a attractive hero who warned the world but no one listened, the beautiful heroine who initially despises said hero but ends up snogging him on the final page, and the comedy sidekick who adds light hearted humour and witty quips in the face of danger. I expected action, adventure, death, romance and general 'yay human' outlook. Oh how wrong I was, and ridiculously naïve over what Wyndham really wrote about in all his books.
The story goes something like this. Years before the day when the world went blind (where the story officially begins) a species of strange plant began springing up all over the world. The plant which people named a 'Triffid' grew to great proportions, 6,7,8 feet tall and to everyone's surprise once it was big enough it started walking around. It also developed a long sting which it would lash out astonishingly far, which was unfortunately able to kill a human in one go. As you can imagine, in a Sci-Fi novel this is a recipe for disaster, and you just know it's not going to end well (especially when the book has a name like this). This is the first great strength of this classic, the sense of impending doom adds to the suspense and intrigue of the novel rather than reducing it. Initially the Triffids are grown and farmed for their pure oil and the dangers aren't recognised, because we are able to dominate them. One night, a spectacular meteoroid shower fills the sky with green lights, all around the world. Everyone looks out and watches the beautiful spectacle, magical even. While this meteor show occurs the main character Bill Masen is lying
in hospital with his eyes covered, ironically because of a triffid sting which has rendered him temporarily blind. Isn't fate funny! He wakes up the morning after and describes listening to the world around him and how unusually silent it is. He risks removing the bandages himself, as no one comes when he calls and enters a world where most people have been completely blinded. The novel then becomes a story of survival, as the world begins to crumble as it stands.
Initially it's hard to understand why the world just stops because we can't help thinking that in this world there are people already blind who survive perfectly well. The reason behind the collapsing of civilised society is that if 99% of the world can't see, then in theory all those factories, businesses, producers, cars, transport systems, farms, shops etc cannot function. If we think about blind people in society today and how much help they need to function independently it stands to reason that survival would be very difficult if you found yourself and everyone around you blind. How would you go out and find food or find your way back to your home? Similarly the factories would not be able to work without the men, so soon electricity, water, gas, food supplies would dry up. Meaning finding clean fresh water and food supplies would become next to impossible. At first the world going blind isn't too scary, until you start to think about.
Luckily Masen finds a woman who can see, Josella, and they more or less stick together. They encounter many problems as those that are blind begin to panic and resort to violence. The blind realise they won't be able to survive without sighted people for very long, simply finding food is next to impossible. The sighted must choose whether to take some of the blind in, find them food and help them survive, or to leave the cities and find somewhere to take a stronghold and to find others who can see. The choice is explored in depth because the fundamental point of the novel is survival of the fittest, the tables have been completely turned and this is where the Triffids come in. The point is made time and time again that the only advantage humans had over Triffids was the ability to see, so when (surprise surprise) most of the world go blind, the Triffids began moving in. The Triffids became the dominant species because they were so much better at coping, they had all the tools they'll ever need. It is often hinted at that they were conscious and aware and intelligent, and they certainly were able to learn and adapt. Wyndham points out that we rely so much on technology that we make ourselves vulnerable.
Two things make the Triffids scary. Firstly they have a lot of patience. It becomes obvious that the plants have a weird ability to just sit and lie in wait; when they kill they wait for the body to start decomposing and strip bits off to eat. Lovely jubly. The second thing is they have strength in numbers. In reality one Triffid is a pretty slow walker, it can't actually see you and all you do is leg it and you'll be fine (as long as you can see it : ) ). However they start to get a bit scary when they lurk behind bushes, all silent and lurky, and start lurking in numbers. This is reflected towards the end of the novel when Bill and Josella are holding up in a cottage, and over time the Triffids build up around the fence. Lurking, waiting, hovering around, ready for you to make a mistake. However many you kill they come back, in huge numbers, ready to take the place of those dead. There's no emotion in the killing, they have no faces, they don't speak a language that we understand and it doesn't bother them when thier comrades die. They just keep going, waiting, ready to strike when the time is right. That's a bit scary.
Structurally the novel is pretty straightforward. The bulk of it is in the present with some flashbacks to the time before Triffids, but it's easy to follow and not hard to realise which time he's describing. As I've read more of his novels I've found Wyndham doesn't rush his story, it can get too slow at times and there's a lot of talking in philosophical ways as the characters discuss the situation. There's a fair amount of description and not much action, so I can see why the film wasn't a success. I can imagine it making a superb movie but you would have to get it absolutely perfect. I think making the Triffids as scary as the imagination is very tricky. It would also require rearranging and bulking out a bit, because the descriptive scenes aren't enough to sustain a movie-going audience. Language-wise it's very English both grammatically and in the way people talk, a reminder of it's age. It doesn't bother me too much and I can't see it bothering anyone else, except if you've never read a book less than 10 years old, in which case DOTT is a good place to start. Compared to Wyndham's other novels I would say that this is one of the best. All his writing is worth a read, but this is the most gripping and readable one. 'Choccy' is excellent - really really sweet and 'The Midwich Cuckoos' is good and raises a good moral debate. I'm reading the 'Kraken Wakes' right now and it's the slowest so far, I'm half way through and it's the first time the two main characters have had a first hand experience (excluding a brief mention at the start) of the 'strange deep sea creatures' which have landed. Having said that, it's a really exciting part to finally meet them in some form, and the tension has been built wonderfully.
Anyway I'm drifting away from DOTT. I suppose I should talk a bit about the social implications reflected in the story, because it's well known that Wyndham was writing during the cold war years and nuclear war was a real threat. There are numerous references to the Russians and to satellite weapons of biological warfare - a reference to the STAR wars where Soviet and American forces were putting laser (If I remember correctly?) weapons into space during the 50s. I'm not really sure if the Triffids are intended as Alien visitors or intended to be a human genetically engineered creation. It's not really explained, and that in itself is probably an intentional device to keep us slightly puzzled. We are told that the oil from the plants is very pure and valuable, but it's all left a bit fuzzy. As a matter of fact not much is explained about the origin of the plants or the origin of the meteor shower. In my mind it's too much of a coincidence that the one thing isn't connected to the other and I like to think that it's a very clever, slow, calculated invasion. The only thing the Triffids needed (us to be blind) happens just a few years after they all mysteriously appear on earth. Very suspicious! At the end it's implied that the meteors may have been a russian weapon deployed accidentally (or intentionally I suppose, though that's not very smart), and that the two events are independent of one another (in other words the Triffids were just very lucky!). Who knows? Maybe I missed the explanation.
I would love to go on and on, but I will leave it there. While I was expected one type of novel I was given an even better one, a clever, intellectual horror story which explores the issues of the time it was written. I would recommend this everyone, read it and enjoy.
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