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alekspredator.bsky.social · @alekspredator.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated The Day of the Triffids 10/10

Rethinking the role of humanity<br/><br/>Since I was a child, I have heard the name "Triffid Day" from my father, who admires this book. But he came to this fiction decades later. On the one hand, I regretted that I hadn't read it earlier, but on the other hand, I wondered if I would really have liked this book so much if I had read it in childhood or adolescence. As a result, I came to the conclusion for myself that I had read it in adulthood for a reason. Life experience allows you to better understand the message of the work and the characters that are represented in John Wyndham's novel.<br/>The novel was written in 1951. The world continues to move away from the horrors of World War II, people are looking for themselves, but the science fiction writer Wyndham offers another apocalypse in which we repeat in a modified scenario the fate of the dinosaurs who died from an asteroid impact 65 million years ago (according to one version). Humanity, on the other hand, is like ancient lizards, watching a comet of unprecedented beauty ploughing the sky. And if the dinosaurs died from the fall of a celestial body and the devastating consequences, then humanity, which was watching the picture of flight, simply went blind. And a small percentage of the people who missed this sight remained able to see.<br/>It's actually a terrifying performance. Vision is the most important organ that allows a person to perceive the world. According to some scientists, it surpasses all other senses combined in its potential. And indeed. How does it feel to be blind? It is clear that in the real world there are many people who cannot see and adapt to life, but the situation in the novel makes literally everyone blind. And it's a disaster. After all, people will not be able to adapt to the new reality in such large numbers. And this fact literally terrifies me as a reader.<br/>There is another part of the people. Those who, for various reasons, did not see what happened and thus remained "in the ranks." But here the rethinking of human relations in principle comes to the fore. Some people have gained an undeniable advantage over others. There is a paradigm shift in human relationships, especially taking into account the dying chains of interaction and the familiar world. Looters, criminals, and many others appear who try to benefit themselves and small groups that form in a short period of time. People's ideas about morality are changing irrevocably. People understand for themselves that they will not be able to live as before, but in order to survive in a newly born world, they will have to become different in a new society. There's no other way. And the author perfectly demonstrates who is adapting to the new reality and how. Some do it easily, others struggle with the demons inside themselves (considering the struggle with conscience to be demons). One way or another, people are beginning to realize that anyone is now a potential enemy, a source of danger, and no one can be trusted anymore. The previous institutions of mutual relations simply do not work, which means that the methods of deterrence in the form of established laws no longer exist. And this sends society practically into an era when it was the physically strong who were right, and moral issues were simply absent.<br/>Wyndham demonstrates well how the characters learn to live in a new world, and does it so coolly that there is no doubt that this will be the case in the real world. There are no brave warriors here who are ready to help, no leader who can handle the situation, and the new world that has been born with the heroes of the work seems to be forever. Reading this even causes some apathy, because you already know that you should not expect any positive ending with the return of your usual life.<br/>It is impossible not to mention the triffids. That's really "where they didn't expect it from." Plants become the main enemies of people who are already not ready to live in peace with each other, to unite to help in need. It would seem that plants cannot be very dangerous to humans, but not when the latter are blind. The author balances the odds of the opposing sides in a peculiar way, but he does it simply and at the same time quite realistically. Triffids have always been blind, and humans have only recently become blind. It is clear that the former have an advantage. And these are dangerous enemies for humans.<br/>Wyndham raises another important topic in his novel, showing how humanity is sliding back into the past, finding itself in a situation where there is no way to establish production and use technology. It's understandable. The reason is the disaster that occurred. But this is a kind of allusion to the modern world, where people can no longer live without the usual benefits of civilization, and humanity has become vulnerable for the most part. And if certain specialists cease to exist in the world (no matter what rank and skill), then the familiar world will surely go downhill and begin to roll back. This is a kind of hint to those societies that have not yet learned how to provide for themselves, relying on the purchase of technology from others. After all, if conditions appear in which you have to use only what you have learned to do yourself, then this will inevitably set back the development of society for dozens or even hundreds of years. Of course, people will get quite used to this, but the next generation will consider such a life to be the norm, not even suspecting how it used to be better. And this is a direct threat to the evolution of society.<br/>I would like to draw a conclusion from this novel, imagining that such an apocalypse is possible in real life. It must be clearly understood that people will have to decide their own fate. Those who become helpless cannot expect to survive, because those who remain "in the ranks" simply will not be able to save everyone. There won't be resources for that. And it's not even about people's morals. This is a physical problem and a problem of resources that will become limited because there will be no one to produce them. And it's a vicious circle. An important role is played by chance: some were lucky, some were not. Someone is more necessary in the new society, much more useful than others. Then he should be saved for the sake of the survival of the entire species, and those who do not have any expert knowledge and skills will not be of particular value to humanity. If you think about it, it's just cruel logic. There's no escaping it. I wish such an apocalypse hadn't happened, but "Triffid Day" provides a great opportunity to rethink life as it is and think about who we are to each other now and who we can become in the event of a cataclysm.<br/>9 out of 10

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Published 2020-12-31 23:00 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere