LIT Exam Review Sept 30th-Oct 28th (PDF)

Reign of Fire is from 2002- Quinn Abercomby & Denton Van Zan Neither the philosophy of Quinn and Denton is not possible Day of the Triffids published in 1951 - Events in relation to Theme and Cold War Anxieites, Recklessly advancement of Discovery for Corporate Money Making and Character Maslow’s...

Reign of Fire is from 2002- Quinn Abercomby & Denton Van Zan Neither the philosophy of Quinn and Denton is not possible Day of the Triffids published in 1951 - Events in relation to Theme and Cold War Anxieites, Recklessly advancement of Discovery for Corporate Money Making and Character Maslow’s Hierachy Of Needs What is Metafiction and Ilusion and Self-Aware Sept 30th Notes I. Reign of Fire (2002) 1. Directed by Rob Bowman. II Dramatis Personae 1. The Community of Bamburgh Castle: A. Quinn Abercromby--One of the leaders of the community. When he was younger, Quinn's mother was the lead project engineer on an underground construction project in London that unleashed the first dragons. Quinn's mother dies protecting him. In the present, Quinn hopes to use the castle as a fortress to outlast the dragons who are running out of food. B. Creedy--Quinn's best friend and another leader of the community. 2. Van Zan's Army: A. Denton Van Zan--Commander of an army dedicated to killing dragons. Van Zan is obsessive in this endeavor to the degree that killing dragons speaks to some anger in himself as opposed to his trying to save what remains of civilization for the benefit of others. B. Alex Jensen--The army's helicopter pilot. She has developed the theory that all of the dragons are female except for one male so that killing the male dragon will speed the extinction of the dragons by stopping their ability to reproduce. i. The male dargon is the same dragon that kills Quinn's mother. III. Themes 1. We will be taking a largely intertextual approach to Bowman's film. A. With this in mind, as in Station Eleven, think about the manner in which the community of Bamburgh Castle compares to that of Severn City. In opposition to Van Zan's army, this community seems more dedicated to rebuilding. Moreover, the community of Bamburgh Castle parallels the Traveling Symphony in their use of plays to bring the community together in a manner that builds bonds between community members and offers them something beyond just survival. B. As in The Drowned World, consider the theme of climate change. Specifically the manner in which actions such as Strangman's draining the lagoon show an abuse of nature and might parallel the construction crew overseen by Quinn's mother digging too deep beneath London which results in the disaster of the dragons being released. C. As in both Station Eleven and The Drowned World, consider the degree to which Van Zan may or may not be said to parallel characters like the Prophet or Strangman in his obsessive need to kill dragons. Moreover, in relation to the depiction of masculinity in Myhre's poem, "When it Really is Just the Wind, and Not a Furious Vexation," consider how Van Zan fits the dominant paradigms of post-apocalyptic masculinity in his status as an accomplised warrior and commander. By extension, might we characterize Quinn in any manner as representative of the counternarratives of masculinity presented in the same poem? —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oct 9th Notes I. The Day of the Triffids (1951) 1. John Wyndham A. 1931--Begins selling stories to magazines. B. During the Second World War, Wyndham joined the British Army and participated in the Normandy landings. He also serves as his experience as a fire watcher during the London Blitz in The Day of the Triffids. C. 1951--Publishes The Day of the Triffids. i. The novel is a great commerical and critical success and establishes Wyndham as a science-fiction writer. He continued to publish six more novels until his death in 1969, though his total body of work includes other novels and stories published under other names. 2. The Day of the Triffids A. Often classified as post-apocalyptic science-fiction, a motif that Wyndham returns to in much of his writing. B. Inspired by H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. If you enjoy The Day of the Triffids, I would also recommend this novel. C. Was adopted into a feature film in 1962, and inspired later films such as the "zombie" survival thiller, 28 Days Later, in 2002. D. Themes: i. Reckless advancement in science and technology as contributing to the rise of the triffids and the collapse of society. ii. The loss of individual identity in the face of a shared crisis. iii. Reversal of Britian historically as a colonial power with the triffids representing those previously colonized now taking over England. II. “The Coming of the Triffids” 1. Focuses on William Masen’s life and his relationship to, and knowledge of, triffids. 2. The chapter stresses the themes of reckless advancement of science, and colonialism heavily. A. Masen notes that the triffids did not come from space or as part of a religious prophecy. Instead, he proposes that they are the outcome of “biological meddlings.” i. The food shortage due to overpopulation. ii. The launching of the satellite weapon. iii. Umberto Christoforo Palanguez discovers a pink oil and offers to fly more of it out of Russia for a corporation (the Arctic & European Fish Oil Company). iv. When Palanguez fails to return, Masen posits that his plane was sot down by Russian aircraft and this released the triffid spores to spread. v. The appearance of the triffids is not at first taken seriously as a threat until the public learns about their ability to kill by stinging. vi. The first reaction is to try to remove the ability of a triffid to sting, but the tendril grows back in time. vii. Discovery of the triffids as predatory and feasting on humans they have killed. viii. The Arctic & European Oil Company decides to start farming triffids on a mass scale for feeding stock. Masen’s joining this company positions him not only as an observer of “biological meddlings” but also as an active part of the problem. ix. Walter Lucknor introduces the narrator to the theory that the triffids speak with one another and direct their attacks. They are intelligent; that is, they are not just acting on instinct. III. “The End Begins,” “The Groping City,” and “Shadows Before” 1. The theme identity can be seen in such statements by the narrator, William Masen, of everyone in society having a certain “job” to do. Though Masen says that it is humiliating to be dependent, he also acknowledges, as in Station Eleven, how dependent we all are upon one another in a society. \ 2. Reign of Fire Quinn-Outlast Van Zan- Fight —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oct 14 Notes I. “Rendezvous,” “Conference,” “Frustration,” and “Evacuation” 1. With the speaker/Jack at the beginning of “Rendezvous” urging others to help people who are unable to find food we see the theme of the loss of individual identity in the face of a common need. At the same time, Masen remains dubious about such an approach. 2. We also have the introduction of the Colonel/Jacques working for a common need and the introduction of Elspeth Carey who is the “official record” similar to Alex in Reign of Fire or Clark in Station Eleven. 3. Dr. Vorless’s argument is that new environments lead to new needs to which we must adapt with the paramount cocnern being to preserve the human race. Again... this stresses the subordination of individual identity to a communally-defined “good.” 4. Coker’s plan in “Frustration” also stresses the loss of individual identity, though, in “Evacuation” Coker admits that he was wrong. II. “A Light in the Night” and “Tynsham” 1. Josella’s depiction, and that of many of the other women in today’s reading, conforms to traditional gender stereotypes of women as being “weaker” than men, though this is challenged at times; for example, Josella’s status as an author attempts to qualify the view of a “weaker sex” in terms of challenging what women were allowed to express in the mid-twentieth century. Day of the Triffids -Colonialsim -Reckless use of science/ personal & corporate greed -Political—> Russia/Red Scare Oct. 16 Notes I. “Dead End,” “A Journey in Hope,” “Shirning,” “World Narrowing,” and “Strategic Withdrawal” 1. In today’s reading, Masen again places blame for the triffids on humankind. Note here specifically: A. The theory that the comet was possibly a satellite weapon instead. B. The role of art realized via myth as a means to encourage people to rebuild. 2. When Masen returns to London, we see him react in a manner similar to that of characters in The Drowned World about the inability to return to the world before. 3. Note also the impact that isolation has on Masen and the manner in which isolation can produce negative emotions for us. In contrast, Masen and Susan feel better once they have the company of one another. Moreover, the finding of Susan foreshadows the reunion with Josella. —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oct 21- Oct 23 Notes I. “The End of the Whole Mess” 1. Published in 1986 by Stephen King. A. As you read this story, consider how King creates a sense of urgency in the plot. For example, think about how present tense is used in the story, or the device of our narrator, Howard Fornoy, being infected and only having a limited amount of time to leave of record of how the world ended before his mind fails him. B. Also consider the relationship between Howard and his brother Robert (Bobby). Though this is a story of speculative fiction, how does King make this relationship believable? Moreover, why is it important to the impact of the story on us as readers that the relationship be believable? For example, consider that Howard kills his brother not out of anger or to avenge the human race, but because he loves him. C. Bobby develops his Calmative in an attempt to end human violence. Though this works, it has the side effect of accelerated Alzheimer’s. Like other authors we have discussed, do you see King commenting here on the need to be careful in scientific advancement since such unchecked advancement could result in disaster as seen here in the metaphor of the end of the world? Another question to consider: what commentary does King offer on human violence? If there is no “miracle cure” as in his story, then how should we intelligently acknowledge this problem? II. “The End of the World as We Know It” 1. Published in 2004 by Dale Bailey. A. Metafiction: a style of prose narrative in which attention is directed to the process of fictive composition. 2. As you read, consider in what ways Bailey’s story is a self-conscious end of the world story that consciously alludes to and draws upon conventions of other works that we have read this semester. As a starting point, we might consider the protagonist being named Wyndham after the author of The Day of the Triffids. Similarly, the title of the story is taken from a REM song title. 3. At the core of the story in the death of Wyndham’s wife and the manner in which he survives this everyday “end of the world” event. Throughout the narrative, Bailey not only references eschatological works from literature, religion, and myth, in such a way as to interrupt the core story, but he also interrupts with cataclysmic historical events. Think about what impact this structural strategy has on you as a reader. Does this suggest that though we often think of end of the world events on a grand scale, they might be most powerful on a personal level? Note also that Bailey stresses not despair ultimately, but the way in which we survive devastating events. III. “Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels” 1. Published in 1973 by George R. R. Martin. A. Foremost as you read this story consider the manner in which Martin subverts the conventions of a post-apocalyptic horror story by giving us the perspective of Greel. How would the story be different if we only received the perspectives of Ciffonetto and Von der Stadt? Moreover, how does the end of the story reinforce the theme of the harm that is done when two cultures fail to understand one another? Consider that the darkness of the tunnels is not only literal but the metaphorical darkness of ignorance. IV. “The Killers” 1. Published in 2006 by Carol Emshwiller. A. Posits a post-apocalyptic village in which women are in charge. B. Men are viewed as primarily as a threat. C. Central to the story is the relationship of the narrator to her brother, Clement. D. The man who enters the narrator’s house is not Clement but the narrative seeks to draw parallels between the two in terms of the narrator’s concern for both finding her brother and that men are a threat because they cannot stop fighting the war. E. Consider the manner in which the death of Joe, the man who the narrator takes in, gives additional resonance to the title of the story in which both men and women are potentially equally classifiable as killers. Think about if this ending asks you to go back to the beginning of the story and re-read in such a manner that the safety of the village is ironically based on killing. —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oct 30th Notes I. Parable of the Sower (1993) II. A Conversation with Octavia E. Butler 1. When asked why she was drawn to writing science fiction and fantasy, Butler replies, “I was a little... girl in that era of conformity and segregation, the 1950s, and no matter how much I dreamed about becoming a writer, I couldn’t help seeing that my real future looked bleak.” A. In this comment, we see the importance of Afrofuturism to writers such as Butler in terms of creating a new, empowered identity. We also see Afrofuturism in Butler researching African religions in preparation for writing Parable of the Sower. For example, Olamina’s middle name, Oya, references the Orisha god of the Niger River. B. Definition of “Afrofuturism”: A cultural movement and artistic aesthetic that uses science fiction, technology, and other futuristic elements to explore Black history and culture. Specifically, Afrofuturism aims at empowerment in terms of connecting Black people from the diaspora with their African ancestry and to envision a future free of hierarchies based on race, gender, class, or sexuality. The term is coined in 1993 by Mark Dery, but Afrofuturist tendencies have been around since the early 19th century. 2. The Earthseed religion is heavily influenced by Buddhist and Taoist notions. Change is at its core, and Change is Olamina’s god. In addition to change, Butler notes the importance of community to Olamina. 3. When asked about Parable of the Sower as a cautionary tale, Butler replies that she uses speculative fiction to draw attention to contemporary social ills: “It is to look at where we are now, what we ae doing now and to consider where some of our current behaviors and unattended problems might take us.” For example, Butler notes examination of: A. Drug use and addiction B. The growing rich/poor gap C. The willingness to build and fill prisons D. Global warming 4. In relation to issues just listed, Butler states that the core of Parable of the Sower revolves around such questions as: A. Where are we going as a country? B. What sort of future are we creating? C. Is it the kind of future that we would want to live in and, if not, what can we do individually and as a country to create a better future? III. The title of the novel derives from Mark 4:3-31. Satellite 1- Not sharing information- Cold War Anxiety 2- Reckless advance of science 1- Humankind brings about the end (Comet) 2- Survival (Individual freedom) 3- Masen: Access to his thoughts, trying to hold onto what came befire 4. Susna-foreshadows→Josella, Survival→Individaul freedom, David 1- Not sharing information 2- Reckless advance of science Day of the Triffids 1. Key figures: Need a Doctor(Health), Teacher(Knowledge), Leader( Decisions) 1- Mason’s Journal: Attachment, Grand Ideology 1- Protect Libaries for knowledge culture, history, etc 1- Dialogues[Religous Centers, All Beliefs, No Beliefs] 1- Communal w family based structure 1- Meditators Urgency First person POV: narrator Howard Interrupt the plot ( Awareness of Time) Experimentation with text misspelling In the year 2020, only a remnant of humanity remains. Enormous, flame-spewing dragons have all but conquered earth. But their post-apocalyptic Reign of Fire is about to end. For many years, Quinn (Bale) has served as noble patriarch to a colony of survivors holed up in a crumbling English castle. Food is scarce. The countryside has been turned to ash and rubble. Ill-equipped to battle the beasts, his people simply hope to outlast them. Then a cocky, cigar-chomping American dragon slayer with a Capt. Ahab complex and lots of heavy artillery rolls into the compound. Van Zan (McConaughey) needs recruits to help his high-tech team hunt down the lone bull male, thus assuring the species’ extinction. Directed by X-Files vet Rob Bowman, Reign of Fire begins promisingly. There’s even a cute scene in which Quinn and a pal playact the climax of The Empire Strikes Back for a group of children. However, its inventiveness evaporates into a series of steely glares between alpha males, and absurd offensives against a winged foe that has no business losing to these guys. In present-day London, 12-year-old Quinn Abercromby witnesses the awakening of a hibernating dragon from a centuries-long slumber, the result of a construction dig supervised by his mother and an incident for which Quinn feels partially responsible. 20 years later, the adult Quinn (Christian Bale) is the fire chief of a refortified castle community, responsible for dousing the blazes lit by the dragon's prodigious number of flame-spewing offspring, airborne juggernauts that have wreaked havoc across the globe, torching civilization and turning humans into an endangered species. Hope arrives in the form of Denton "Dragon Slayer" Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), an American known to be the only man to ever kill one of the dragons, and Alex (Izabella Scorupco), a scientist/pilot who's a member of Van Zan's army, a zealous fighting force that includes a secret weapon: the Archangels, paratroopers using themselves as bait to attract and then dispatch the deadly beasts. Among the mythical creatures in folklore, perhaps none are more famous or instantly recognizable than the dragon. Described as massive, often winged, reptilian creatures with unimaginable strength and breathing fire, dragons are among the most feared creatures in all of literature. Though famous for their sheer power, dragons are also known to be highly intelligent, and some can even speak. Physically imposing and highly intelligent, dragons are a force to be reckoned with, but as powerful as dragons are, they haven't adapted to film as well as others. As the world they once knew crumbles, the dragons seem more in place cinematically and add to the tension. Reign of Fire's characters, though nothing too compelling, were driven enough to be memorable and relatable. The main character, played by Bale, even has a satisfying emotional arc as someone who suffered childhood trauma directly from the dragon. He becomes overprotective of his people but refuses to engage in direct conflict with the dragons. The main human antagonist, played by McConaughey, is a battle-hardened soldier who only sees people as pawns to regain human dominance. The two present an ideological difference that creates tension as the dragons claim more and more lives. The dragons themselves are presented as an existential threat and anti-anthropocentrism, or a non-human-centric world. The dinosaurs were bigger and stronger than humans, but the dragons wiped them out, becoming symbolic of the meteor. Humans are incredibly intelligent and can impact the environment and have done so to the point of causing global warming. The dragons become representative of global warming, albeit literally, and are even released by humans at the beginning of the film. Humans created the threat but can't truly control it, and because of their own inadvertent actions, they are not and will no longer be the dominant being on the planet. The humans involved tell an equally compelling story as they navigate an interesting dichotomy. Bale's character is someone who will do anything to protect the survivors except act against the dragons. McConaughey's character will try to defeat the dragons by any means necessary, including sacrificing human lives. The two mindsets are bound to clash, as both men are doing the same amount of damage in different ways. Both want the survival of the human race, but both either directly or indirectly kill people because of their actions. One unwittingly lets the dragons kill his people, and the other makes their job easier. There's a fallacy in both of their reasonings that costs lives, and neither one can see it. This mental battle ultimately drives the movie. One of the things that made Reign of Fire so impactful was its dragons. In special effects-driven films, the visuals need to be the star, and every dragon in the movie is amazing. They have attitude, they're fast, and they look great onscreen, especially for a 20-year-old film. The largest dragon, the Bull that was awakened at the beginning and became the main antagonist, is over 100 feet long and has a 300-foot wingspan. Every time he shows up, the tension skyrockets as he stalks the humans and even other dragons. In mythology, dragons were symbols of greed, and the Bull Dragon is a perfect example of it. The film is set in England in the year 2020, twenty years after London tunneling project workers inadvertently awakened dragons from centuries of slumber and the creatures have subsequently replaced humans as the dominant species on Earth. With the fate of mankind at stake, two surviving parties, led by Quinn Abercromby (Bale) and Denton Van Zan (McConaughey), find that they must work together to hunt down and destroy the beasts in a desperate attempt to take back the world. The film opens at an unspecified date in the early 21st century. During construction on the London Underground, workers penetrate a cave. A huge dragon emerges from hibernation, incinerating the workers with its breath. The only survivor is a boy, Quinn Abercromby (Ben Thornton), whose mother, Karen (Alice Krige) - the construction crew chief - is crushed to death protecting him. The dragon flies out of the Underground, and soon more dragons appear. It is revealed through newspaper clippings and the narration that dragons are the species responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. They are speculated to hibernate after destroying most living creatures until the planet repopulates. Mankind's militaristic resistance, including nuclear weapons in 2010, only hastens the destruction, and by 2020, humans are nearly extinct. Quinn (Christian Bale) leads a community of survivors at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland. They are starving while awaiting harvest. Although most trust Quinn, some are restless and defiant. Eddie (David Kennedy) and his group steal a truck to pick tomatoes, though it is too soon for harvest. They are attacked by a dragon. One man is killed and the rest are surrounded by fire. Quinn, Creedy (Gerard Butler), and Jared (Scott Moutter) rescue them with old fire engines, but the dragon kills Eddie's son before escaping. The Kentucky Irregulars, a group of Americans led by Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), arrive on a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy with a Chieftain tank and AgustaWestland AW109 utility helicopter, the latter of which is piloted by Alex Jensen (Izabella Scorupco). Van Zan has a system for hunting dragons and knows their weakness: poor vision during twilight. With Quinn's help, Van Zan, Alex, and their team hunt and slay the dragon who destroyed the crops. The survivors enjoy a celebration at the castle that night but Van Zan is embittered by the loss of several of his men. Van Zan and Alex tell Quinn that all the dragons they have found have been female. The Americans believe there is only one male - if they kill it, the dragons can no longer reproduce. Although Quinn knows about the male dragon, which killed his mother, he refuses to help. In open defiance, Van Zan orders his soldiers to enlist the castle's best men despite Quinn's argument that if they find the male it will kill them and find the castle. Tempers again fray between Van Zan and Quinn, and in an attempt to stop them taking the castle's men away, Quinn attacks Van Zan and a fight ensues; Van Zan gives Quinn a terrible beating, which impacts the castle's inhabitants. After being separated by the crowd, Van Zan and some of the castle's men depart with Quinn bloodied and helpless to stop them. But true to Quinn's warnings, Van Zan's caravan is attacked by the dragon in the ruins of a town Script error: No such module "convert". from London. The dragon then finds the castle and kills most of the inhabitants. Quinn gets the survivors to a bunker, but they are trapped when the dragon returns; during its final attack, Creedy is killed. Van Zan and Jensen return and free everyone trapped in the bunker. Quinn decides to help Van Zan and Alex hunt down the male dragon. They fly to London and find hundreds of small dragons, one of which is cannibalized by the larger male. Van Zan plans to shoot explosives down the dragon's throat with a crossbow. He fires, but the dragon destroys the arrow and eats Van Zan. Quinn and Alex lure the dragon to ground level, where Quinn fires another explosive into the dragon's mouth, killing it. Later, Quinn and Alex erect a radio tower on a hill overlooking the North Sea. There has been no dragon sighting for over three months. Jared arrives to say they have contacted a group of French survivors who want to speak to their leader. Quinn tells Jared he is now their leader and dedicates himself to rebuilding. Day of the Triffids On what day of the week did the green flashes appear in the evening sky? -Tuesday What was the name of the company Bill Masen worked for until a triffid sting landed him in hospital with his eyes bandaged? -Arctic and European Oils Walter Lucknor had a theory about the triffids' superiority over blind men, and explained it to Bill some years before he was proved right. In conversation, what was the trigger that inspired this discussion? -That triffids stung men across the eyes Hungry because he had not eaten since the previous evening, Bill went into a delicatessen which had been smashed into by a taxi, and collected 'the makings of a good meal'. What else did he do before he left the shop? -He put what he considered a fair price for the food on the counter How did Josella's father die? -He was stung by a triffid What was the name of the person who was entrusted with the task of recording the disaster and the set-up of the new order? -Elspeth Cary After Coker raided the University building he split the sighted people up in order to singly lead groups in parts of London, marking off the map to give areas to each group. Which area was assigned to Josella? -Westminster Which of the following people, met by Bill in and around Beaminster, do we know by name? -The lady shop owner What was the eventual outcome of the party led by Miss Durrant at Tynsham? -They were killed by the plague When Ivan Simpson arrived at Shirning he told Bill and Josella what had been happening to the world outside, as far as he was able. Of all the communities which had started up, a number joined them on the Isle of Wight, although a couple were militant and had been left alone. Which area of the United Kingdom did Simpson say was doing very well because a good number of men had retained their sight? -South Wales Day of the Triffids Summary Chapter 1: The End Begins Bill Masen, a 'triffidologist', has been recovering in hospital after being temporarily blinded by a triffid strike. He awakes on the day that his eyes are to be uncovered to find that all is silent and there are no staff around. Uncovering his eyes himself, he finds that everyone is apparently blind from watching the green flashes from comet debris that occurred the night before. Chapter 2: The Coming of the Triffids Bill describes his earlier life and goes into details about triffids. He explains how the triffids came originally from the USSR and spread to the rest of the world. He also recounts how he encountered a triffid whilst a child which led to his career in triffid farming. Chapter 3: The Groping City Bill makes his way through the streets of London which are filled with helpless blind people. At one point, he tries to intervene with a group of blind people being controlled by a sighted person but is knocked out. He faces the future with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. Chapter 4: Shadows Before Bill is wandering the streets when he hears a scream and finds a sighted young woman being beaten by a blind man. He rescues her and she reveals her name as Josella Playton who had missed the comet through a wild party. They drive to Josella's home but find that her family has all been killed by triffids. Chapter 5: A Light in the Night On the way to pick up some anti-triffid gear, Bill and Josella are almost caught by a mob of blind people. They evade them, find the gear and clothes, and make their way to an empty flat in a tower block. They plan to leave London soon to somewhere in the country. During the night, they spot a light flashing in the city Chapter 6: Rendezvous In the morning, Bill and Josella make their way to the University of London, the source of the light, where they spot a group of blind people led by a sighted man arguing at the gates. The crowd are dispersed and the pair enter. They learn that the occupants of the University, mostly sighted, are planning to leave London the next day. Bill and Josella are sent out to gather food. Chapter 7: Conference The University community gathers for a conference. After an encouraging speech by Beadley and a few words on organisation, Dr Vorless, a professor of sociology, explains that the community will have to adapt new rules to survive. Later, Bill and Josella discuss the new life that awaits them and agree to 'marry'. Chapter 8: Frustration Bill is woken by what appears a fire and is knocked unconscious. He awakes, bound and locked in a room. He learns that Coker, the man who had been arguing in front of the University, had captured several of the University group and plans on using them to keep some blind people alive longer. For a few days, he works with his party, finding food for them. Then they succumb to a disease. Chapter 9: Evacuation Bill tries to find Josella but fails. He returns to the University and finds an address, Tynsham Manor, where the party had been intending to go. He also finds Coker who had had the same problems as Bill and now realises his plan had been wrong. They agree to drive together to Tynsham. Chapter 10: Tynsham Bill and Coker arrive at Tynsham Manor to find it led by Miss Durrant, a religious woman who had objected to the new sociological rules at the University meeting. Michael Beadley and his party had travelled there with her but left when they realised their viewpoints were incompatible. Coker finds the community very poorly set up to survive, even having to start an electric generator which had been lying their unused. Chapter 11: …And Further On Bill tries to find some word of Josella while Coker takes stock of the situation at Tynsham. Durrant suggests that Josella might have gone onto Beaminster in Dorset. Coker finds the situation suitable for survival but Durrant's attitude would be a disadvantage. After a few days, Bill and Coker leave for Beaminster. They encounter many triffids on the way. Chapter 12: Dead End At Beaminster, Bill and Coker are stopped by a trio. They had been fortifying a local building, expecting to be attacked by mobs from the towns and cities. When the situation is explained, the two groups join up. They search the surrounding area for Josella and other survivors, including using a helicopter, and the party increases in size. Eventually most of the party decide to travel to Tynsham but Bill, remembering an earlier remark by Josella, decides to travel to Sussex to continue his search. Chapter 13: Journey in Hope Bill drives east towards Pulborough. In a small village, he come across Susan, a young girl, whose family has been killed by triffids. The next day, they continue together and reach Pulborough but Bill does not know the exact location of Shirning Farm where he expects Josella to be. In the evening, they shine a light and eventually receive another in reply. Finally they arrive at Shirning Farm and Bill is reunited with Josella. Chapter 14: Shirning At Shirning, Bill learns of how its occupants, Dennis and Mary Brent, and Joyce Taylor, had coped with their blindness, and how Josella had escaped from London. Mary gives birth and Bill later drives to Tynsham to find it deserted except for plague-ridden bodies. Chapter 15: World Narrowing Over the next few years, Bill and the others develop Shirning. They learn some farming and also take steps to defend themselves against the triffids which are increasing in numbers. Journeys to towns and cities have to be abandoned due to dangerous buildings, blocked roads or hostile  inhabitants. Josella has a child and, in the sixth year, she and Bill spend a day at the coast where they ponder on the comet's origins. Then they see a helicopter. Chapter 16: Contact They return to Shirning to find Ivan Simpson, once of Beadley's party, is there in the helicopter. He explains how they had ended up on the Isle of Wight and created a community there, and how Coker had been located a month before. He offers Bill and the others a chance to join them where Bill can be employed finding a way to destroy the triffids. They agree to move to the Isle of Wight but will spend the rest of the summer at Shirning first. Chapter 17: Strategic Withdrawal The next day, Bill and Susan return from gathering fuel to find a strange military vehicle in the yard. He finds a party of armed men inside the house who tell him that they are part of a feudal-type organisation and they intend to take control of Shirning, allocating more blind people to it and removing Susan. In the evening, while the men are asleep, Bill and the others leave for the Isle of Wight. The Conflict between Necessity and Moral Norms This is the novel's main theme and this can be seen on throughout the narrative. It is this dynamic between the two seemingly diametrically opposed concepts that moves the characters and drives the story forward. All the characters at one point or another struggle between the striving to maintain a degree of human morality and/or deciding to cast aside established moral norms for the sake of survival. Bill works to rescue the blind, assisting them when he can because he still adheres to his moral code. This code both defines him and dictates his actions. Beadley is on the polar opposite of this moral spectrum seeing survival as the highest objective that he must strive to achieve. Looking at situations from that angle he therefore sees the blind as a waste of resources and this dictates his responses towards other survivors he comes across. Hope Despite the bleakness of the novel there is a definite undercurrent of optimism that is present in that the protagonist hopes against the situation that things will improve. It is this hope for a better tomorrow that keeps him from giving up on his search for Josella. It is this hope that they will eventually find a means to eradicate the triffids and reclaim the earth that pushes him to keep on surviving. The Fragility of "Human Domination" The author uses both the triffids as well as the plague of sudden, inexplicable blindness to illustrate how tenuous humanity's domination of the world truly is. In the novel a simple change in a "normal condition," which is in this case humanity's reliance on sight, when abruptly removed on a large enough scale would wreak havoc on our society, quite possibly enough to destroy it altogether or in the very least alter it in ways that would render it unrecognizable from it's current form. Day of the Triffids “I don't think it had ever occurred to me that man's supremacy is not primarily due to his brain, as most of the books would have  one think. It is due to the brain's capacity to make use of the information conveyed to it by a narrow band of visible light rays. His civilization, all that he had achieved or might achieve, hung upon his ability to perceive that range of vibrations from red to violet. Without that, he was lost.”- Bill Masen/Narrator Bill sums up the fragility of man’s so-called dominance, that is, man’s supremacy hinges upon ideal conditions being met, specifically the condition of being able to see. He posits that if that condition is not fulfilled--being able to see--civilization, as we know it, may well collapse. “It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent and comforting hallucinations to trust that 'it can't happen here'-- that one's own time and place is beyond cataclysm.” Bill Masen/Narrator Bill discusses the tendency of people to ignore disasters by naïvely thinking that they are somehow exempt from these events. He also states obliquely that in doing this they endanger themselves as this mindset diminishes the sense of the urgency to prepare ahead for calamities, which in turn leaves people dangerously unprepared to face disaster when it appears--which is always when anyone least expects. “I don’t think we can blame anyone too much for the triffids. The extracts they give were very valuable in the circumstances. Nobody can ever see what a major discovery is going to lead to whether it is a new kind of engine or a triffid and we coped with them all right in normal conditions. We benefited quite a lot from them, as long as the conditions were to their disadvantage.”-Bill Masen/Narrator Concerning accountability for the damage wrought by the triffids Bill points out that there isn’t any single person or group that can be impugned. After all, products derived from triffids helped so many people so not only were they tolerated but they were actually cultivated. Bill also states that no one could have foreseen the danger that triffids posed because humanity had managed to corral them under “normal” conditions; once this optimal condition, i.e. having sight, was removed from the equation, then the danger returned as a variable one again. “Granted that they do have intelligence; then that would leave us with only one important superiority--sight. We can see, and they can’t. Take away our vision and our superiority is gone. Worse than that--our position becomes inferior to theirs because they are adapted to a sightless existence and we are not. In fact, if it  were a choice for survival between a triffid and a blind man, I know which I’d put my money on.”----Walter Lucknor Walter Lucknor is an expert on triffid biology who surmises that it would be unwise for humanity to underestimate the danger posed by triffids. He states that if our optimal condition, i.e. our reliance on our sight, were to be somehow removed--perhaps foreshadowing on part of the author--humanity wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. “The world we lived in was wide and most of it was open to us with little trouble. Roads, railways, and shipping lines laced it, ready to carry one thousands of miles safely and in comfort. If we wanted to travel more swiftly still, and could afford it, we traveled by airplane. There was no need for anyone to take weapons or even precautions in those days. You could go just as you were to wherever you wished, with nothing to hinder you--other than a lot of forms and regulations. A world so tamed sounds utopian now.”--Bill Masen/Narrator The hero reminisces about the conveniences the world prior to the mass blindness and the triffids was and realizes how many of these conveniences were actually luxuries that were taken for granted. He recalls these as practically distant memories of the past and not without an obvious twinge of regret and sadness. “The way I see it, we’ve been given a flying start in a new kind of world. We’re endowed with a capital of enough of everything to begin with, but that isn’t going to last forever. We couldn’t eat up all the stuff that’s there for the taking, not in generations--if it would keep. But it isn’t going to keep. A lot of it is going to go bad pretty rapidly--and not only food--everything is going, more slowly, but quite surely, to drop to pieces…” Wilfred Coker Not everyone views the apocalypse with fear and trepidation; some see it as a leveling of the playing field, such as in this case Wilfred Coker. He knows that with everything they have known is now gone and up for grabs for the most fortunate--or the most cunning and brutal. The Day of the Triffids Analysis These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Written by Anastasia Melnyk The old world has come to an end: more than half of the people of Earth are blind, the planet is in captivity of carnivorous walking plants, resources are being depleted and infections are multiplying. It is time to build a new life among the ruins of civilization. Is there any chance for survivors to have a future? The post-apocalyptic story unfolds in London on the day, when almost all living creatures are blind, and the survivors begin to fight for their further existence. The threat also comes from carnivorous plants – triffids that can move. They also have deadly stingers in their arsenal. The Day of the Triffids is a very high-quality example of social fiction. It is filled with different discussions about the meaning of life, about the prospects for survival, about price of living, about the possibilities of saving humanity overall after such a global “sweep”, and of course about the entire social and psychological consequences. The author manages to catch and to place before the reader the right questions. John Wyndham is a man who combined fantastic plots and themes about life and death in his book. That is why the question “what does it mean to be a human?” is discussed here. In this world, in which only a hundred of sighted people left among the millions of blind people, the issue of humanity is very serious. People should know how to act, who to save, what to do now and when the world is on the verge of extinction. These questions appear not only to sighted people. Blind people should choose to live or to die, to fight or to let others do it for the sake of them. How to live now, when everything that people are accustomed to, collapsed? It is believed that Wyndham’s novel is about ecology. The fact that people are so accustomed to mock at nature, nature will be standing against humanity. However, the triffids, as the punishment of nature, are in the background. The issues of humanity and love are in the forefront. Love has the main role in the novel. Love leads the characters, does not allow them to break down and helps to survive. It helps to build something new on fragments of a dying past. The Day of the Triffids is more about feelings, about emotions. The author describes in a very interesting way the changes, taking place in the world, the transformation of people into a herd of animals, blindly fighting for their existence. The whole novel is saturated with the spirit of death, pain and despair. However, in the center of the story the main character, Bill, who knows that everything is over, does not lose hope for a bright future. The book makes the reader think at least a little about how it is amazing to see, hear, walk and feel. It is amazing, when people have water, heat, food, home and peace. It will be terrible to lose everything one day. What a shaky human civilization this is, since one change can destroy it. In The Day of the Triffids, Wyndham shows that despite having such a terrible situation to happen, the population and humanity all still have hope in their body. This is shown when Bill didn’t give up on finding Josella after she had disappeared. In the quotes “It had been a wretched night. Until I lay down, I had not fully realized the extent to which I had counted on finding Josella in Tynsham. Weary though I was after the day’s journey, I could not sleep” and “Coker’s bed was already empty when I awoke, and I decided to devote my morning chiefly to inquiries. This shows that although Bill is tired from the previous day as said in “It had been a wretched night” he still isn’t giving up on finding Josella when he decided that he will devote his morning chiefly to inquiries. Although Bill thinks that Josella might have caught the disease in the quote. “ The thing I had to fight hardest against admitting was that she might have caught the disease, but Bill still wants to find Josella no matter the circumstances. Wyndham makes the characters in the book tough, and characterises them to do anything to survive the comet strike and the challenges in the “The Day of the Triffids.” This is shown when Josella tries to fight off the venomous and deadly plant. “I cracked and howled like a girl in a Victorian melodrama. In this quote where Josella described herself as a masculine hero when she said “Howled” and “Victorian Melodrama” this means that the author Wyndham appeals strongly with emotions. By making Josella a hero by fighting the plant, the audience will believe that Josella is an attractive woman. John Wyndhma made the novel “The Day of the Triffids" include many aspects of what humanity will do to try to survive from behaving violently to becoming a leader. Wyndham makes every character progress and makes them adapt to any scenario made by him. In the novel, humanity is literally a replica of the outside world as people will do anything to survive what is going on, for instance, the comet blast and the dangerous plants. The story, narrated by Howard Fornoy in the form of a personal journal, recounts the life of his genius younger brother, Robert Fornoy. Bobby, a child prodigy whose adult interests led him to study a variety of scientific disciplines, discovered a chemical that reduces the aggressive tendencies of humans and other organisms. While doing sociological research in Texas, Bobby used crime statistics to create a crude topographical map which displayed a geographical pattern of violent crime. Examining the map, Robert noted diminishing levels of crime centered on the town of La Plata. When he arrives to investigate, he finds that this town has never had any violent crime. Bobby is ultimately able to determine that the cause of the non-aggression is the presence of a chemical unique to the town's water supply, a phenomenon that is mentioned in (but had nothing to do with the causations of) King's earlier novel It. Even minimal exposure to the chemical will quickly calm an angry person or animal, and Bobby has been able to isolate the chemical and distill it to concentrated form. At a time of international chaos suggestive of an approaching total nuclear war, Bobby and Howard, with the aid of a volcano in Borneo that is set to erupt and blow millions of tons of ash into the atmosphere, disperse a large quantity of this substance throughout the world, in the hope of preventing a catastrophe. Indeed, the effects are quick and expected: a massive decrease in hostilities occurs around the globe. Several months later it is discovered that, to the Fornoys' horror, there was another constant about La Plata that was not studied until after the substance was released. It does eliminate aggression, and increases calm, but it does the job too well. It builds up, out of control, in a subject's system, ultimately giving them symptoms resembling dementia or Alzheimer's disease and eventually resulting in death. Howard's journal entries after this point begin to include increasing amounts of grammar, spelling, and other mistakes, eventually devolving into incoherence as Howard succumbs to the effects of the chemical. It is implied the human race will also eventually die out as adults start to forget how to care for newborn children. The style of Howard's entries near the end are reminiscent of those of the character Charlie in Daniel Keyes' book Flowers for Algernon It is narrated by writer Howard Fornoy, a man who has limited time on earth to type out his brother’s life story, Robert Fornoy, who he was forced to kill not moments before he began writing. Now Howard’s own life is slipping away and he must relay his story before whatever drugs he has taken begin to work. Robert, or Bobby, was a child genius. His academic skills developed rapidly as he learned to read and write by the age of two, instigated successful scientific and sociological experiments throughout childhood and completed high school by the age of ten. Howard describes him as both a fascinating and fascinated boy who was consumed by a childlike urgency to learn and educate himself. However, this all changed at the age of sixteen when he returned from traveling in South America on an anthropological expedition; he matured and become deeply affected by humanity’s ability to self-destruct. After a few more years of traveling and fueling himself with scientific knowledge, Bobby eventually moves to Waco in Texas and cuts himself off from his family. It’s not until years later that he shows up on Howard’s doorstep out of the blue, excitedly brandishing a bizarre wasp and bee experiment that he claims could help save the world. Bobby explains that the majority of Texas is consumed with anger and crime, but Waco is a very placid place. After much investigation he deemed it was ‘something in the water’, and managed to create a potent concoction of this strange water that calmed and pacified the locals. Bobby demonstrated with the angry wasps in his hand that, after giving them this special tonic, the usually infuriated insects became incredibly calm – yet simultaneously alert and competent. Bobby requires Howard’s help with this water. There is a volcano on an island not far from Borneo that is due to erupt in the near future. If they placed the water in this volcano before it erupted, the calming effects of it would spread across the entirety of earth and potentially rid the planet of anger, destruction and violence. The prospect of zero suffering on earth is enthralling to the innocent-minded and hopeful Bobby. But will Howard agree to this? Or is this far-fetched plan just a naive concept devised by a crazed genius? Like almost all of King’s works, I didn’t find the characters particularly likable in The End of the Whole Mess. I always find that there is a high level of coldness in his creations and this short story was no exception. The reader is given a great deal of background information on Bobby, who is an intelligent man oblivious to anything or anyone beyond his thirst for knowledge, but I never felt that he was anything more than an intellectual. Perhaps the Howard character is supposed to be empathised with more, but I found him quite bitter despite the fact that he claimed not to be. He was a rather dark and skeptical character even though there is no real cause for him to be this way. However, King redeems himself with his plot. The basis of the short story was a fresh and interesting slant on the idea of friendly small towns in southern America, and the twist at the end was definitely in keeping with the stereotypical view of them. Also the concept of the Bobby character’s intelligence outgrowing his level of maturity was a believable and captivating notion. If children were highly intelligent and powerful would they not want to do something as fundamental as make all the mean people of the world less mean? King’s short story was beautifully paced and intriguing, demonstrating his incredible skills as a writer, but I felt it lacked severely in characterisation. King seems to have pulled all the elements together to create an impressive concept, but his inherent coldness spoils what should have been an enticing and thrilling story. Howard Forney’s journal recounts the intense promise and disastrous effects of his younger brother Bobby’s genius. When Bobby discovers an unknown chemical that diminishes anger and hostility, he believes he’s found the path to world peace. Only after utilizing an erupting volcano to spread the chemical throughout the world does Bobby learn that the chemical also causes dementia and eventually death. The End of Mess was Created in 1993 In “The End of the World As We Know It” a short story by Dale Bailey, the protagonist, Wyndham must deal with being the last man on earth. We get very little physical description of Wyndham during the short piece. All that we know is that Wyndham is indeed male, as he has a wife and small child. I propose that the physical traits of Wyndham are left to the reader so that he may function as a “stencil” of post-apocalyptic protagonists, which is similar to what the story does as a whole when it breaks from the main narrative to talk about the nuances of the post-apocalyptic genre. Personality wise however, Wyndham is a very fleshed out character. I’ve noticed that Wyndham is a very observational character, both before the apocalypse (when he notes that it clearly must be the end of the world since the Home Shopping Network has canceled programming to show the demolition of the World Trade Center) and after (when he is attempting to determine when darkness falls). I also feel that Wyndham is very self assuring. After the apocalypse happens, he sits in his UPS truck and waits for planes from another country looking for survivors. Later after the apocalypse occurs Wyndham also shows his addictive personality, as he slowly becomes dependent on gin and tonics at 2p.m. in the afternoon. At the beginning of the story the narrator states that Wyndham thinks that everyday is the end of the world since he has to get up at 4a.m. which shows that Wyndham might be a fatalist or perhaps a hypochondriac. He is also a faithful church going individual and as his lady companion finds out after the apocalypse, Wyndham is not much of a talker. As for skills that Wyndham has, it’s honestly better to talk about the skills that Wyndham doesn’t have. He is fairly weak, as he struggled to dig a grave for the two old Jewish people he found in the farm house. Compared to his wife who reads every night before she goes to bed, Wyndham claims that he is not much of a reader. And when it comes to violence, Wyndham has never shot a gun and if he did he claims that he would have an emotional breakdown if he ever killed a man. Looking further at Wyndham’s character, I will now analyze his motivations for living. Prior to the apocalypse Wyndham had to get up every morning at 4a.m. and his motivation was the little moan that he got from his wife when he told her he was leaving from work. After the apocalypse, it appears that Wyndham’s salvation and motivation to live is liquor and inner introspection. He spends every afternoon on the front porch with his gin and tonic. There are no clues in the text to hint whether he is benifting more from the gin and tonic or the introspection. Finally, we have the inventory of what Wyndham has. I will consider Wyndham at the end of the short story. All that Wyndham has is his tonic and gin, the memory of his wife, a female guest living in the house with him, and a beautiful two story brick farm house. Next I will analyze the aforementioned two story brick farm house. The house was originally owned by an old Jewish couple who passed away during the apocalypse. Since Wyndham and the mystery woman appear to be the only two people who have survived (up to the end of the story) the social structure, economy, and politics of the area are very self governing. There is no establishment to care for Wyndham or the woman who appears in the house, so Wyndham must provide for himself. He scavenges in local liquor stores for gin and provisions. There are two moments in the story in which Wyndham’s decisions have greatly affected the turn of events in the story. The first is when Wyndham tries to wake his wife after the apocalypse. This is, after all, how Wyndham learns that there is something wrong, that there might be a potential massive scale problem. Instead of waking his wife that morning it could have been one of the few mornings when he slept in. Eventually he would have woken and tried to wake her and learned that she was dead, but he would not have had the comfort of being able to run his route after learning of her and her daughter’s deaths. The second event that I find even more interesting is when Wyndham refuses to have sex with the mystery woman. Instead of bringing the narrative to a new place, it ended the narrative. I think it is interesting that after the woman propositions Wyndham, the narrator brings up the story of Job. On closer inspection, we know that Job loses his kids as a test of devotion to God. Perhaps Wyndham is thinking of himself as Job, and that he has lost his wife and daughter and having sex with this woman would be like leaving his faith in God and putting his faith in the Devil. Overall, Wyndham in my opinion is almost a deep dimensional character, however I feel his lack of physical description is a draw back. In the future, the world ends quietly. A man wakes up one day and realizes his wife is not responsive. He tries to revive her through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but fails. He sees his daughter in her bedroom, and he tries to revive her too, but fails. He deduces that the world has ended. He does not know how or why the world ended, but he knows he is alive. He breaks into the neighbor's house and finds his neighbors unmoving in their beds. He remembers numerous details about their life as he stares down at their bodies, such as their gift for growing tomatoes that he and his wife loved to eat. He leaves the house and goes to his job delivering packages. He keeps driving until his truck runs out of gas, and then he abandons his truck. He takes shelter in the nearest home, a nice, two-story brick house. He wakes up the next morning and realizes he has no where to go, so he stays. He digs a grave for the dead residents at the house. He resorts to drinking. A day or two later, the power goes out, and he runs out of liquor. He robs a store. After living in the house for two weeks, he wakes up to sounds downstairs. He goes downstairs and sees a woman. He tells her where a bed is. He does not ask her to leave. They don't talk at all. After a while, the woman propositions him out of a sense of obligation to promote the survival of the human race. He declines. When she despairs, he recommends she drink more alcohol. the end of the world as we know it - 2009 by Dave Bailey