The Day of the Triffids
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| First edition hardback cover | |
| Author | John Wyndham |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Michael Joseph |
| Released | December 1951 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7181-0093-X (first edition, hardback) |
| Followed by | The Night of the Triffids |
The Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic or cosy catastrophe novel written in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. The novel is written in the first person and explores the consequences of the vast majority of humanity becoming blind, in a world that becomes overrun with poisonous, ambulatory plants. It was later made into a radio series, a motion picture, and a television serial.
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[edit] Plot summary
Triffids are fictional plants, capable of rudimentary animal-like behaviour: they are able to uproot themselves and walk, possess a deadly whip-like poisonous sting, and may even have the ability to communicate with each other. Wyndham describes the triffid by breaking its appearance down into several more familiar elements; in fact he later suggests that the plant might be a hybrid of various different plants.
In the story, the narrator speculates on the plants' origins. He dismisses claims that they evolved naturally, or arrived from space, or were sent as punishment from a deity. Instead, it is suggested that they were bioengineered when he was a child, possibly by real-life biologist Trofim Lysenko in the Soviet Union. The story does not explain with what information the narrator formed these suspicions. Fear of the Soviet Union is a pervading theme of the novel, and Wyndham was writing at a time when Lysenkoism was still believed to be a scientific threat to capitalist countries.
The narrator describes how the triffid quickly became established as a major agricultural crop due to its edible oils and proteins. The seeds reach the West after a jet carrying a stolen box of seeds is shot down whilst the pilot is attempting to defect, and the plants become commonplace. Many households keep them as a curiosity, almost a garden pet, making sure to have the sting docked at regular intervals. In commercial exploitation, the stings are left intact as docking impairs the quality of the plant oil.
The story proper opens with the narrator Bill Masen in hospital, with his eyes bandaged after having been stung by a triffid. He discovers that while he has been blindfolded, an unusual meteor shower has blinded most people on Earth. Bill later muses that the shower may have resulted from the misfiring of a space-based weapons system , though the true cause is never revealed (this technique of withholding ostensibly critical background to the plot is a key Wyndham characteristic also present in The Midwich Cuckoos and The Kraken Wakes). The protagonist finds people in London struggling to stay alive in the face of their sudden blindness, some cooperating, some fighting. After just a few days society is collapsing.
The few sighted survivors who have escaped the general collapse are forced into some difficult realisations about just how many of the blind each remaining sighted person can possibly help, and must question how best to survive and rebuild society. Meanwhile, triffids are quickly regrowing their stings and taking full Darwinian advantage of the new edge over humankind that chance events have given them. Undocked specimens in captivity break free, and growing numbers of them become bolder and more aggressive every day.
Masen meets Josella Playton, a woman who also avoided being blinded, and the two manage to survive the perils of London and fall in love. Though they are separated, Bill and a sighted girl he has adopted eventually find Josella living with friends on a remote country estate, and the pair become an established couple and have a child of their own. When a para-military organisation arrives to take over their resources and divide the members of the household, Bill and Josella escape with their son to join a community on the Isle of Wight.
The entire second half of the book has much to say about the difficulty of re-establishing civilisation following a major disaster. Indeed, the novel ends with the triffids still dominant, perhaps even plotting against humans, and a few human survivors grimly attempting to fight back. The narrator Masen comes across several settlements in the course of the book, organised in various different ways, most of them having some fatal flaw.
[edit] Allusions/references in other works
- Triffids are referenced in the opening number of the stage/film musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show: "I really got hot when I saw Janette Scott fight a triffid that spits poison and kills." Janette Scott played the role of Karen Goodwin in the 1962 film adaptation.
- The Triffids is also the name of an Australian rock group from the 1980s.
- In the computer game Darwinia there is an immobile enemy unit called a triffid that looks like a flower and spits dangerous seeds.
- The film 28 Days Later features several nods to The Day of the Triffids, including the protagonist awakening in a deserted hospital, finding other survivors by following tower lights, and encountering a paramilitary group in a country house whose plans include the acquisition of women with whom to repopulate the country.
- The band Gorillaz have a reference to a triffid on the band's official website. Upon further inspection of the band member, Murdoc's trailer in the Kong Studio parking garage, you'll find a triffid as a potted plant. When you place your cursor over it, it makes a strange noise and the subtext states, "Absolutely Triffid".
- The band Ash have a song titled "Day of the Triffids" on their CD Trailer.
- The game Kingdom of Loathing has a triffid as an enemy encounter in "The Spooky Forest."
[edit] Film, TV, radio or theatrical adaptations
The novel was adapted into a BBC radio series in 1957.
A film version of this story was produced in the UK and released in 1962.
The story was turned into a BBC television serial in 1981, repeated on BBC 4 in 2006.
In 2001, British novelist Simon Clark wrote a sequel titled The Night of the Triffids.
[edit] External links
| John Wyndham |
|---|
| Bibliography |
| Novels: |
| Foul Play Suspected · The Secret People · Stowaway To Mars · The Day of the Triffids · The Kraken Wakes · The Chrysalids · The Midwich Cuckoos · The Outward Urge · Trouble with Lichen · Chocky · Web |
| Collections: |
| Jizzle · The Seeds of Time · Tales of Gooseflesh and Laughter · Consider Her Ways and Others · The Infinite Moment · Sleepers of Mars · The Best of John Wyndham · Wanderers of Time · Exiles on Asperus · No Place like Earth |
| Filmography |
| Feature films: The Day of the Triffids (1962 film) · Village of the Damned (1960 film) · Village of the Damned (1995 film) |
| Radio |
| Radio adaptations: The Day of the Triffids (radio) · The Chrysalids (radio) |
| Television |
| TV adaptations: The Day of the Triffids (TV series) · Chocky (TV series) · Random Quest |
