Title: The Day of the Triffids
Genre: Novel
Year: 1951
Pages: 230
Origin: bought from a second-hand bookshop
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5
‘When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.’
And so begins one of modern fiction’s great opening lines, the start of influential novel The Day of the Triffids. It is a work that has long fascinated the Worm, chiefly in his televised format of the original series many years ago, and less thrillingly in the 2009 remake. But, just what are these triffids, the Worm hears you ask excitedly?
Triffids are a tall and carnivorous plant species created by
Wyndham. They are gangly and have the ability to walk using their roots in a freakishly
sinister awkward way. Wyndham leaves the floor open as to their appearance:
natural, or – as perhaps more likely – a man-made creation. In civilised
society, the triffids are seen as a source of amusement and adornment in homes
of the wealthy. But in Wyndham’s world, civilisation is coming to a close.
The book’s narrator and main character, Bill Masen, recounts
the growth of triffids in his younger years. As a man who has worked with the
fearsome plants, he notes a former co-worker’s ominous words: ‘If it were a
choice for survival between a triffid and a blind man, I know which I’d put my
money on.’ And, as luck would have, shooting stars falling to the planet result
in the loss of sight for most of the world’s population. Bill, ironically in
hospital and having surgery on his eyes, finds out – to his horror – that he
must use his visual ability in the helping of others. The principal person of
his endeavours is Josella (a continuing theme of the book is the rather oddly
and awkward character names).
There are many shortcomings in this novel: the lack of a
central plot, with the author instead moving Bill here, there and everywhere.
Characters come and go, and none of them and entirely gripping or noteworthy.
Also, the dialogue is close to cringe worthy, thereby stunting the growth of
the characters and the reader’s attachment to them.
But The Day of the Triffids is a book about ideas, rather
than plot or characters. This big idea being: what happens when the apocalypse
comes. In the book’s introduction (a rather interesting one, the Worm being
thankful of his particular edition), Barry Langford notes that the book may
‘sound merely a parody of the worst pulp clichés of fifties science fiction.’
However, Wyndham got there before many others; bringing about further
originality with the appearance of the triffids and what they mean for human
ingenuity and our ability to play God.
It is Bill’s striving for a brave new world that makes this
short book an enjoyable read. Should they revert to a militaristic ‘neo-feudal
plan’, turn to socialism, or instead pin their hopes on religious devotion? As
Josella states towards the coming of the book’s climax:
‘Do you think we could – do you think we should be justified in starting a myth to help them? A story of a world that we wonderfully clever, but so wicked that it had to be destroyed – or destroyed itself by accident? Something like the Flood again. That wouldn’t crush them with inferiority – it could give the incentive to build, and this time to build something better.’
The next generation are to be left a harsh and daunting inheritance. Such a generation is not recounted in this tale (although there is a somewhat dubious follow-up to Wyndham’s work, The Night of the Triffids… something tells the Worm it will not be enjoyed as much). But Wyndham’s message was originally to the world of the 1950s: that of two rival ideologies and the threat of nuclear devastation. As a message, it rings very true in the twenty-first century.
