The Day of the Triffids - By John Wyndham, Blog 3

 The setting of this story has a big influence on the events. It takes place in England, and although it is all over the place, there are things that remain the same no matter where the character's go. The book starts off with the main character Bill in a hospital on the morning that everyone has gone blind. At first Bill doesn't know that everyone is blind, and is very confused. There is something haunting about an empty hospital, when everyone goes blind. Some are confused and babbling, some are oblivious to the fact that they are blind, some kill themselves, but most are trying to find a way out, and are all grouped in the main lobby.

Next, we go into the main streets of England. People are walking around with makeshift sticks or else feeling their way along buildings. Some have already smashed through store fronts searching for food and other survival materials. Cars are parked on the streets, and the scariest thing is that it is quiet. For a city that during the daytime and even night time always has noise, and cars and is generally really busy, something feels very unnerving when everything is silent except for the tapping of sticks, and the occasional cry from someone.

From here, we meet Josella, and her and Bill find a flat that was abandoned. While in the hallway however, they encounter a blind couple who kill themselves so that they don't have to suffer. It is very scary seeing people helpless and killing themselves so that they don't have to live blind.

At first all the towns seem empty, and yet you will find blind people trying to make their way along streets and survive. Then the Triffids make their way towards the city's and towns, and the blind populations get smaller and smaller. If not killed by the Triffids, most people die of some sort of disease that Bill believes has also come from the comets that made everyone blind in the first place.

The devastation of Earth is what makes the humans have to learn to survive in new ways, and it is the basis of this story. If the world had not been devastated, and there weren't Triffids, or all the other problems that happened, there would have been no story at all. Ultimately it makes one think of how we would try to survive if a disaster like this happened. Would you be able to make it?