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* WhoIsDriving: The passengers on the plane have a moment of this, when they realise that if they are all blind, the pilot must be as well, and they all crowd towards the cockpit at once.
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* DefeatMeansFriendship: Played with in that it's not Coker himself who's overcome, but rather his philosophy; he and Bill become fast friends after his gambit comes to nothing. There's perhaps a degree of expedience to this forgiveness as well: both men are smart enough to realise that enmity AfterTheEnd is a waste and that demonstrably useful allies who, whatever their flaws, can be reasoned with are a precious resource.
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While the Triffids rapidly break free of their farms and begin wiping out the blinded population, Masen and Playton become entangled in the squabbles of other sighted survivors leading to their unwilling separation. They are finally reunited at a small estate in the English countryside, taking up farming in a fenced enclave surrounded by hordes of Triffids. When a despotic new government appears on the scene, they join a colony of more freedom-minded individuals on the Isle of Wight, researching for the day they can defeat the Triffids and reclaim the Earth for humanity.

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While the Triffids rapidly break free of their farms and begin wiping out the blinded population, Masen and Playton become entangled in the squabbles of other sighted survivors survivors, leading to their unwilling separation. They are finally reunited at a small estate in the English countryside, taking up farming in a fenced enclave surrounded by hordes of Triffids. When a despotic new government appears on the scene, they join a colony of more freedom-minded individuals on the Isle of Wight, researching for the day they can defeat the Triffids and reclaim the Earth for humanity.
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The book's narrator is an Englishman named Bill Masen, who details how some years previously the eponymous carnivorous plants mysteriously began appearing all over the world, eventually proving to be capable of movement and possessing the ability to attack and kill humans with their poisonous stings before feeding on them; Masen's own theory is that they were deliberately bioengineered in the Soviet Union and then accidentally released into the wild, but [[RiddleForTheAges the truth is never revealed]]. Whatever their origin, the plants are also discovered to produce a high-quality vegetable oil, and so an entire industry grows up around farming them. Masen works as a researcher on a Triffid farm, and winds up in the hospital after a Triffid stings him on the face. With his eyes bandaged, he misses a bizarre meteor shower that lights up the night skies all over the world.

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The book's narrator is an Englishman named Bill Masen, who details how some years previously the eponymous carnivorous plants mysteriously began appearing all over the world, eventually proving to be capable of movement and possessing the ability to attack and kill humans with their poisonous venomous stings before feeding on them; Masen's own theory is that they were deliberately bioengineered in the Soviet Union and then accidentally released into the wild, but [[RiddleForTheAges the truth is never revealed]]. Whatever their origin, the plants are also discovered to produce a high-quality vegetable oil, and so an entire industry grows up around farming them. Masen works as a researcher on a Triffid farm, and winds up in the hospital after a Triffid stings him on the face. With his eyes bandaged, he misses a bizarre meteor shower that lights up the night skies all over the world.
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* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: Invoked by Masen in the opening chapter, as he listens to the confusing sounds outside -- and lack thereof -- with his eyes bandaged in his hospital room.
--> A nasty, empty feeling began to crawl up inside me. It was the same sensation I used to have sometimes as a child, when I got to fancying that horrors were lurking in the shadowy corners of the bedroom. When I daren't put a foot out, for fear that something should reach from under the bed and grab my ankle; daren't even reach for the switch, lest the movement should cause something to leap at me.

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* ApocalypseHow: Killer plants and blinding "meteors". Performs a relatively mild Class 1.

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* ApocalypseHow: Killer Planet-wide blindness caused by an alleged "meteor shower", followed by killer plants and blinding "meteors". Performs a relatively mild picking off the hapless survivors. Class 1.2, as organized national governments collapse but various large-scale survivor enclaves do manage to maintain some form of technological civilization.
**Halfway through the book it confirms that animals who looked at the strange meteor shower were also blinded, such as cows and sheep. Many animals were not, however, because unlike humans they didn't listen to radio reports urging them to watch the event.
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[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dayoftriffidsbook.jpg]]

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[[quoteright:310:https://static.[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dayoftriffidsbook.jpg]]



The book's narrator is an Englishman named Bill Masen, who details how some years previously the eponymous carnivorous plants mysteriously began to appear all over the world, eventually proving to be capable of movement and possessing the ability to attack and kill humans with their poisonous stings before feeding on them; Masen's own theory is that they were deliberately bioengineered in the Soviet Union and then accidentally released into the wild, but [[RiddleForTheAges the truth is never revealed]]. Whatever their origin, the plants are also discovered to produce a high-quality vegetable oil, and so an entire industry grows up around farming them. Masen works as a researcher on a Triffid farm, and ends up in the hospital after a Triffid stings him on the face. With his eyes thus bandaged, he misses a bizarre meteor shower that lights up the night skies all over the world.

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The book's narrator is an Englishman named Bill Masen, who details how some years previously the eponymous carnivorous plants mysteriously began to appear appearing all over the world, eventually proving to be capable of movement and possessing the ability to attack and kill humans with their poisonous stings before feeding on them; Masen's own theory is that they were deliberately bioengineered in the Soviet Union and then accidentally released into the wild, but [[RiddleForTheAges the truth is never revealed]]. Whatever their origin, the plants are also discovered to produce a high-quality vegetable oil, and so an entire industry grows up around farming them. Masen works as a researcher on a Triffid farm, and ends winds up in the hospital after a Triffid stings him on the face. With his eyes thus bandaged, he misses a bizarre meteor shower that lights up the night skies all over the world.
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* ZombieApocalypse: Triffids aren't undead humanoids, but in terms of behavior and threat level they share more than a passing resemblance. The sighted and unsighted alike struggle to scavenge a living while being hunted by this new predator. Eventually the sighted protagonists retreat to the countryside and barricade themselves in a farm house, fending off repeated Triffid attacks. The book is heavy with social commentary and contains memorably hellish imagery of shambling, groping masses of humanity. The Triffids themselves have a rickety, limping gait and are slow moving, awkward creatures of little threat individually (unless they catch you unawares). In large numbers, however, they are a serious menace; able to force their way in anywhere and seemingly capable of rudimentary communication and organization.

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* ZombieApocalypse: While Triffids aren't undead humanoids, but in terms of behavior and threat level they share more than a passing resemblance. The With civilization having collapsed, the sighted and unsighted alike struggle to scavenge a living while being hunted by this new predator. Eventually the sighted protagonists retreat to the countryside and barricade themselves in inside a farm house, fending off repeated Triffid attacks. The book novel is heavy with social commentary and contains a lot of memorably hellish imagery depictions of shambling, groping masses of humanity. The Triffids themselves have a rickety, limping gait and are slow moving, slow-moving, awkward creatures of posing little threat individually (unless they catch you unawares). In large numbers, however, they are a serious menace; able to force their way in practically anywhere and seemingly capable of rudimentary communication and organization.
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The novel has been adapted for the screen three times, first by a very loosely-adapted [[Film/TheDayOfTheTriffids 1962 feature film]]; then by a [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids1981 1981 BBC miniseries]] which, while low-budget, is quite faithful to the original work; and [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids2009 once more by the BBC in 2009]], again with the plot deviating a great deal from the novel. There were also {{radio drama}} adaptations made by the BBC in 1957 and 1968.

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The novel has been adapted for the screen three times, first by a very loosely-adapted [[Film/TheDayOfTheTriffids 1962 feature film]]; then by a [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids1981 1981 BBC miniseries]] which, while low-budget, is quite faithful to the original work; and [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids2009 once more by the BBC in 2009]], again with the plot deviating a great deal from the novel. There were also {{radio drama}} adaptations made by the BBC in 1957 1957, 1968, and 1968.
2001.
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dayoftriffidsbook.jpg]]

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[[quoteright:300:https://static.[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dayoftriffidsbook.jpg]]



The book's narrator is an Englishman named Bill Masen, who details how some years previously the eponymous carnivorous plants mysteriously began to appear all over the world, eventually proving to be capable of movement and possessing the ability to attack humans with their poisonous stings; Masen's own theory is that they were deliberately bioengineered in the Soviet Union and then accidentally released into the wild, but [[RiddleForTheAges the truth is never revealed]]. Whatever their origin, the plants are also discovered to produce a high-quality vegetable oil, and so an entire industry grows up around farming them. Masen works as a researcher on a Triffid farm, and ends up in the hospital after a Triffid stings him on the face. His eyes thus bandaged, he misses a bizarre meteor shower that lights up the night skies all over the world.

Come morning, Masen learns that the shower has struck blind everyone who viewed it. (He later speculates that the shower was actually a malfunctioning orbital weapons system, but again no proof is to be found one way or the other.) Wandering through a disintegrating London, he meets and quickly falls in love with a sighted novelist named Josella Playton (who missed seeing the "meteor shower" because she was sleeping off an [[PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo unfortunate party experience]].)

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The book's narrator is an Englishman named Bill Masen, who details how some years previously the eponymous carnivorous plants mysteriously began to appear all over the world, eventually proving to be capable of movement and possessing the ability to attack and kill humans with their poisonous stings; stings before feeding on them; Masen's own theory is that they were deliberately bioengineered in the Soviet Union and then accidentally released into the wild, but [[RiddleForTheAges the truth is never revealed]]. Whatever their origin, the plants are also discovered to produce a high-quality vegetable oil, and so an entire industry grows up around farming them. Masen works as a researcher on a Triffid farm, and ends up in the hospital after a Triffid stings him on the face. His With his eyes thus bandaged, he misses a bizarre meteor shower that lights up the night skies all over the world.

Come morning, Masen learns discovers that the shower has struck blind everyone who viewed it. (He later speculates that the shower was actually a malfunctioning orbital weapons system, but again no proof is to be found one way or the other.) Wandering through a disintegrating London, he meets and quickly soon falls in love with a sighted novelist named Josella Playton (who Playton, who'd missed seeing the "meteor shower" because she was sleeping off an [[PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo unfortunate party experience]].)
experience]].



In 2001, the author Simon Clark wrote a sequel to the book entitled ''Literature/TheNightOfTheTriffids'', which attempted to be a pastiche of Wyndham's style, and details the adventures of Bill and Josella's son.

The novel has been adapted for film three times, first by a very loosely-adapted [[Film/TheDayOfTheTriffids 1962 feature film]]; then by a [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids1981 1981 BBC miniseries]] which, while low-budget, is quite faithful to the original work; and [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids2009 once more by the BBC in 2009]], again with the plot deviating a great deal from the original.

to:

In 2001, the author Simon Clark wrote a sequel to the book novel entitled ''Literature/TheNightOfTheTriffids'', which attempted to be a pastiche of Wyndham's style, and details the adventures of Bill and Josella's son.

The novel has been adapted for film the screen three times, first by a very loosely-adapted [[Film/TheDayOfTheTriffids 1962 feature film]]; then by a [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids1981 1981 BBC miniseries]] which, while low-budget, is quite faithful to the original work; and [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids2009 once more by the BBC in 2009]], again with the plot deviating a great deal from the original.
novel. There were also {{radio drama}} adaptations made by the BBC in 1957 and 1968.
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* SovietSuperscience: Masen speculates this might have been the origin of the triffids. While he is more knowledgeable on the subject than the average man on the street, he is still basing this on second and third-hand rumors he picked up during his work with the triffids. Still, he points out that genetic engineering is a more likely explanation that extra-terrestrial origin for the triffids due to the fact that every specific part of a triffid's biology can be found in various known plant species.

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* SovietSuperscience: Masen speculates this might have been the origin of the triffids. While he is more knowledgeable on the subject than the average man on the street, he is still basing this on second and third-hand rumors he picked up during his work with the triffids. Still, he points out that genetic engineering is a more likely explanation that than a extra-terrestrial origin for the triffids due to the fact that every specific part of a triffid's biology can be found in various known plant species.
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* SovietSuperscience: Masen speculates this might have been the origin of the triffids. While he is more knowledgeable on the subject than the average man on the street, he is still basing this on second and third-hand rumors he picked up during his work with the triffids.

to:

* SovietSuperscience: Masen speculates this might have been the origin of the triffids. While he is more knowledgeable on the subject than the average man on the street, he is still basing this on second and third-hand rumors he picked up during his work with the triffids. Still, he points out that genetic engineering is a more likely explanation that extra-terrestrial origin for the triffids due to the fact that every specific part of a triffid's biology can be found in various known plant species.
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* GenreDeconstruction: The author takes the general "survive the Zombie Apocalypse" horror story (using plants instead of zombies or nuclear war), and extends it forward for several years, becoming one of the first major works to treat the issue of ApocalypseLogistics seriously. Quite simply...scavenging for canned food in the ruins of major cities is ''not'' a viable survival strategy on an extended time scale. Crowds of blind people scavenge in the early days, but there's a finite supply of canned food and they run out eventually. Nor do the more lucky survivors simply flee to a pastoral existence raising their own crops in the countryside. The author repeatedly underlines the point that even those who survived long enough to plow their own fields, need to learn how to forge their own iron to make their own plows. If they're just scavenging old plows, they're not much better than the blind people scrabbling for cans in ruined shops. The entire set of interconnected relationships that are required for civilization are needed for long-term survival.

to:

* GenreDeconstruction: The author takes the general "survive the Zombie Apocalypse" horror story (using plants instead of zombies or nuclear war), and extends it forward for several years, becoming one of the first major works to treat the issue of ApocalypseLogistics ApocalypticLogistics seriously. Quite simply...scavenging for canned food in the ruins of major cities is ''not'' a viable survival strategy on an extended time scale. Crowds of blind people scavenge in the early days, but there's a finite supply of canned food and they run out eventually. Nor do the more lucky survivors simply flee to a pastoral existence raising their own crops in the countryside. The author repeatedly underlines the point that even those who survived long enough to plow their own fields, need to learn how to forge their own iron to make their own plows. If they're just scavenging old plows, they're not much better than the blind people scrabbling for cans in ruined shops. The entire set of interconnected relationships that are required for civilization are needed for long-term survival.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* GenreDeconstruction: The author takes the general "survive the Zombie Apocalypse" horror story (using plants instead of zombies or nuclear war), and extends it forward for several years. Quite simply...scavenging for canned food in the ruins of major cities is ''not'' a viable survival strategy on an extended time scale. Crowds of blind people scavenge in the early days, but there's a finite supply of canned food and they run out eventually. Nor do the more lucky survivors simply flee to a pastoral existence raising their own crops in the countryside. The author repeatedly underlines the point that even those who survived long enough to plow their own fields, need to learn how to forge their own iron to make their own plows. If they're just scavenging old plows, they're not much better than the blind people scrabbling for cans in ruined shops. The entire set of interconnected relationships that are required for civilization are needed for long-term survival.

to:

* GenreDeconstruction: The author takes the general "survive the Zombie Apocalypse" horror story (using plants instead of zombies or nuclear war), and extends it forward for several years.years, becoming one of the first major works to treat the issue of ApocalypseLogistics seriously. Quite simply...scavenging for canned food in the ruins of major cities is ''not'' a viable survival strategy on an extended time scale. Crowds of blind people scavenge in the early days, but there's a finite supply of canned food and they run out eventually. Nor do the more lucky survivors simply flee to a pastoral existence raising their own crops in the countryside. The author repeatedly underlines the point that even those who survived long enough to plow their own fields, need to learn how to forge their own iron to make their own plows. If they're just scavenging old plows, they're not much better than the blind people scrabbling for cans in ruined shops. The entire set of interconnected relationships that are required for civilization are needed for long-term survival.
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None


* CosyCatastrophe: Despite the novel being called the TropeMaker of this genre by fellow science-fiction author Creator/BrianWAldiss, ''Day of the Triffids" actually [[AvertedTrope averts]] a lot of the trope's conventions. Bill actually has a pretty dangerous and rough life after the apocalypse, even as a sighted person. He can't stay in one place lest he be seized by the non-sighted people who will use him as a slave, and the triffids themselves constantly prove a deadly threat throughout the book. When he finally reaches the farm of Josella's friends and they all live there for several years eking out a life from the land, it's incredibly tough to keep things going as they have to support themselves just as much on supplies from rapidly disintegrating cities as they do from farming, plus they also have to keep finding ways to stop the triffids from getting past the fences protecting the farm. Even before the threat of being conscripted by a despotic new government arises, they've decided to decamp to a colony on the Isle of Wight.

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* CosyCatastrophe: Despite the novel being called the TropeMaker of this genre by fellow science-fiction author Creator/BrianWAldiss, ''Day of the Triffids" actually [[AvertedTrope averts]] a lot of the trope's conventions. Bill actually has a pretty dangerous and rough life after the apocalypse, even as a sighted person. He can't stay in one place lest he be seized by the non-sighted people who will use him as a slave, and the triffids themselves constantly prove a deadly threat throughout the book. When he finally reaches the farm of Josella's friends and they all live there for several years eking out a life from the land, it's incredibly tough to keep things going as they have to support themselves just as much on supplies from rapidly disintegrating cities as they do from farming, plus they also have to keep finding ways to stop the triffids from getting past the fences protecting the farm. Even By the end of the book, and even before the threat of being conscripted by a despotic new government arises, they've decided to decamp to a colony on the Isle of Wight.



* DeathWorld: What Bill fears and imagines the Earth may become through the proliferation of the triffids as he contemplates the future close to the end of the book. He wonders if humanity will be crushed into tiny gated enclaves permanently patrolled to stop the Triffids breaking in. It's not clear by the end of the novel whether or not that is going to be the case

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* DeathWorld: What Bill fears and imagines the Earth may become through the proliferation of the triffids as he contemplates the future close to the end of the book. He wonders if humanity will be crushed into tiny gated enclaves permanently patrolled to stop the Triffids breaking in. It's not clear by the end of the novel whether or not that is going to be the casecase.
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* CosyCatastrophe: Despite the novel being called the TropeMaker of this genre by fellow science-fiction author Creator/BrianWAldiss, ''Day of the Triffids" actually [[AvertedTrope averts]] a lot of the trope's conventions. Bill actually has a pretty dangerous and rough life after the apocalypse, even as a sighted person. He can't stay in one place lest he be seized by the non-sighted people who will use him as a slave, and the triffids themselves constantly prove a deadly threat throughout the book. When he finally reaches the farm of Josella's friends and they all live there for several years eking out a life from the land, it's incredibly tough to keep things going as they have to keep getting supplies from cities that are rapidly disintegrating, plus they also have to keep finding ways to keep the triffids out. Even before the threat of being conscripted by a despotic new government arises, they've decided to decamp to a colony on the Isle of Wight.

to:

* CosyCatastrophe: Despite the novel being called the TropeMaker of this genre by fellow science-fiction author Creator/BrianWAldiss, ''Day of the Triffids" actually [[AvertedTrope averts]] a lot of the trope's conventions. Bill actually has a pretty dangerous and rough life after the apocalypse, even as a sighted person. He can't stay in one place lest he be seized by the non-sighted people who will use him as a slave, and the triffids themselves constantly prove a deadly threat throughout the book. When he finally reaches the farm of Josella's friends and they all live there for several years eking out a life from the land, it's incredibly tough to keep things going as they have to keep getting support themselves just as much on supplies from cities that are rapidly disintegrating, disintegrating cities as they do from farming, plus they also have to keep finding ways to keep stop the triffids out.from getting past the fences protecting the farm. Even before the threat of being conscripted by a despotic new government arises, they've decided to decamp to a colony on the Isle of Wight.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* CosyCatastrophe: Despite the novel being called the TropeMaker of this genre by fellow science-fiction author Creator/BrianWAldiss, ''Day of the Triffids" actually [[AvertedTrope averts]] a lot of the trope's conventions. Bill actually has a pretty dangerous and rough life after the apocalypse, even as a sighted person. He can't stay in one place lest he be seized by the non-sighted people who will use him as a slave, and the triffids themselves constantly prove a deadly threat throughout the book.

to:

* CosyCatastrophe: Despite the novel being called the TropeMaker of this genre by fellow science-fiction author Creator/BrianWAldiss, ''Day of the Triffids" actually [[AvertedTrope averts]] a lot of the trope's conventions. Bill actually has a pretty dangerous and rough life after the apocalypse, even as a sighted person. He can't stay in one place lest he be seized by the non-sighted people who will use him as a slave, and the triffids themselves constantly prove a deadly threat throughout the book. When he finally reaches the farm of Josella's friends and they all live there for several years eking out a life from the land, it's incredibly tough to keep things going as they have to keep getting supplies from cities that are rapidly disintegrating, plus they also have to keep finding ways to keep the triffids out. Even before the threat of being conscripted by a despotic new government arises, they've decided to decamp to a colony on the Isle of Wight.

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* MainliningTheMonster: Triffids are initially culled because their predatory habits pose a threat to humans, but when it turns out they can be exploited as a source of a high quality oil, they are captured, have their stingers removed, and farmed instead. Even worse, when it turns out that the oil quality improves if the sting is not removed...


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* MonsterOrganTrafficking: Triffids are initially culled because their predatory habits pose a threat to humans, but when it turns out they can be exploited as a source of a high quality oil, they are captured, have their stingers removed, and farmed instead. Even worse, when it turns out that the oil quality improves if the sting is not removed...
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* DatedHistory: Some editions of the novel (and the [[Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids1981 1981 TV adaptation]]) suggest that controversial Soviet biologist Trofim Lysenko may be the inventor of the triffids. While an appropriate MadScientist, in reality Lysenko was a crank whose "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism theory]]" rejected natural selection and even ''genetics'' in favour of a mixture of [[LamarckWasRight Lamarckism]] and ideologically-motivated BlatantLies, and would have been rightly consigned to the dustbin of crackpottery in the Twenties if Stalin hadn't been taken in by it.
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* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Averted, kind of; Wyndham liked to throw in a bit of exposition about the Soviet Union for the benefit of future generations too young to recall the Cold War. Illustrated neatly by a scene in the first chapter when a shady individual claiming he can supply triffid seeds to a British firm points out that dealing with the suppliers directly might be difficult; this is the cue to pause the action for about half a page of exposition.
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* WastelandElder:
** After most of the world's population goes blind, Michael Beasley (whose age is estimated to be between thirty-five and fifty) gathers a group of mostly sighted people to retreat to an island and rebuild society amidst the ApocalypseAnarchy. He's separated from the main characters soon afterward, but the success of his efforts is later described secondhand.
** Former Unionist Coker forms an organization designed to pair blind and sighted people (sometimes involuntarily) to scavenge for food and to help the blind people survive better. His goals are portrayed as nobler than Beadley's but also less practical in the long term.

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* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Bill Masen is initially somewhat shocked at the [[ColdEquation pragmatic abandonment of most of the blind population]] in London by Beadley and the Institute group, and sympathizes with Coker's more idealistic attempt to help them. Ultimately, he comes around to the Beadley position when RealityEnsues, as does Coker himself.

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* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Bill Masen is initially somewhat shocked at the [[ColdEquation pragmatic abandonment of most of the blind population]] in London by Beadley and the Institute group, and sympathizes with Coker's more idealistic attempt to help them. Ultimately, he comes around to the Beadley position when RealityEnsues, the realistic consequences happens, as does Coker himself.



* GenreDeconstruction: The author takes the general "survive the Zombie Apocalypse" horror story (using plants instead of zombies or nuclear war), and extends it forward for several years. Quite simply...scavenging for canned food in the ruins of major cities is ''not'' a viable survival strategy on an extended time scale. Crowds of blind people scavenge in the early days, but there's a finite supply of canned food and they run out eventually. Nor do the more lucky survivors simply flee to a pastoral existence raising their own crops in the countryside. The author repeatedly underlines the point that even those who survived long enough to plow their own fields, need to learn how to forge their own iron to make their own plows. If they're just scavenging old plows, they're not much better than the blind people scrabbling for cans in ruined shops. The entire set of interconnected relationships that are required for civilization are needed for long-term survival.



* RealityEnsues: The author takes the general "survive the Zombie Apocalypse" horror story (using plants instead of zombies or nuclear war), and extends it forward for several years. Quite simply...scavenging for canned food in the ruins of major cities is ''not'' a viable survival strategy on an extended time scale. Crowds of blind people scavenge in the early days, but there's a finite supply of canned food and they run out eventually. Nor do the more lucky survivors simply flee to a pastoral existence raising their own crops in the countryside. The author repeatedly underlines the point that even those who survived long enough to plow their own fields, need to learn how to forge their own iron to make their own plows. If they're just scavenging old plows, they're not much better than the blind people scrabbling for cans in ruined shops. The entire set of interconnected relationships that are required for civilization are needed for long-term survival.
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None

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* TheWholeWorldIsWatching: The majority of the world's population is blinded through observing a strange green meteor shower that lasted long enough to be see all over the world. The protagonist Bill Masen speculates that the "meteor shower" may have been orbiting satellite weapons, triggered accidentally.
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* TheLastManHeardAKnock

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* TheLastManHeardAKnockTheLastManHeardAKnock: There are actually plenty of other people around the first few days after the disaster, they're just all blind. After a few weeks this is no longer the case.

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