What is the climax of this novel? What happens? How do the events of this novel make you feel?
The climax of this novel is where Bill and his "family" leave the government officials in their home and take off. Bill deliberately turns down the fences that were preventing the triffids from coming in. By choosing to take this course of action, Bill chose to live his life for what he believed was just. The new "government" was only reestablishing the negative aspects of the former human race. They were forcing his family to take in blind people. Arrogant with their self-received power, 
they had no proper thoughts for the well-being of the survivors. Furthermore, the power-hungry government officials were seeking to take hold of political power ASAP to remain a national powerhouse in Europe. This seems pointless. In that world, the whole Earth is out of order. There is no economy, no political parties, nothing. Establishing oneself as powerhouse would mean nothing. There would be no civilization to rule over. Simply, the new government was spurious and unjust. Bill knew this did not follow his heart and that he would be better off in the new island settlement. He made his decision with his family and their needs in mind. Ultimately, he chose between a life under a feeble imitation of the previous world and the path to the new human race, to a life of integrity, hope, and justice.
These events gave me mixed feelings. First of all, I was reminded that old habits die hard. The humane desire for power was still evident in the government officials even after the fall of the human race. Their obsession of power was blinding the order of what needed to be prioritized in the new world. I was reminded of bad habits people all around 
2008년 3월 4일 화요일
Entry #6
Entry #5
beautiful? Rr disturbing? Or memorable? Describe these settings and
comment on why they were meaningful to you.
There were many settings in the course of these novel that shot diverse, vivid images into my mind. However there is one specific setting that is engraved in my memory, the settings of cities in chaos. The novel describes the cities as quiet places dotted with blind people wondering like zombies and triffids stinging them at will. These scenes were most disturbing. When I imagined that I was one of the blind people wondering in fear with no clue where I was going, I felt deep sympathy for the blind. This was not only because of there disability but because of the circumstances in the novel. With all that was known to be a “normal world” diminished, the blind would be easy prey for the stealth triffids. It was a position I would not like to be in.
Another reason these settings were memorable was their application to life as a metaphor. “Walking blindly in a chaotic city dotted with hungry triffids” is this metaphor that represents a person lost in life, wondering aimlessly to meet life’s obstacles. In other words, it means that one who is living life aimlessly is like a blind man in a city full of triffids. I felt a strong connection between this metaphor and a passage from scripture
Matthew 11:5 “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” My metaphor can be applied in a spiritual matter as well. Preaching the good news frees spiritual disabilities in life like Jesus says in the verse which is to be fulfilled by Him. I guess that’s what being a Christian is. You believe Jesus has taken away these disabilities(sins) in your life, and you live a life free from sin, free from Satan’s invisible cord of sin tied around your neck. Another thing I realized as I wrote this connection down is the role Christians in this world. In the novel, there are a few sighted people. Some decide to live for themselves while others devote their time to take care of as many blind people possible. The sighted people are Christians and we are not to take care of but help the blinded get rid of their blindness.
Entry #4
* Please choose one passage from the novel that
is significant to you.Why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.
(These passages are parts of a sociology professor’s speech to the survivors in this dystopian world of its situations and actions that the new society should take.)
Pg. 99
“The conditions which framed and taught us our standards have gone with it. Our needs are different now, and our aims must be different.”
“With the old pattern broken, we have now to find out what mode of life is best suited to the new. We have not simply to start building again; we have to start thinking again – which is much more difficult, and far more distasteful.”
“We must have the moral courage to think and to plan for ourselves.”
These lines were the most powerful words that struck me in the whole novel. They gave me a whole new world of perspective. For the first time in my life, I pondered what it meant to b
e a human and about our standards of being one. Would all our morals and patterns matter in a dystopian world? I thought the human experience would be quite hollow without today’s conditions of well-being. This brought me to another question. “Is this the moral state of people in extreme poverty, with no hope, filled with loneliness and confusion? This question widened my focus on people who are the same as me but just unfortunate. I’ve always thought of these people as if they lived in a different world, but these passages have brought me to realization that this failure of patterns and moral standards could happen to anybody.
Why did God make so much more unfortunate people? Why is everyone only knowledgeable to these people who may be going through a totally frightening world where their aims and moral standards have diminished? These questions went through my head as I read this passage. I believe the “moral courage” to change is not only for those who must adapt but even for us. For us to be challenged by these people, to act upon our moral standard as we are fortunate enough to have them. Now I’ve put these ideas in writing and read them, these questions seem to shoot arrows at me too. I feel a need for change, a need to have moral courage. Everyone fortunate needs courage to get rid of the greedy ignorance of those who live in the same, but so vastly different world. That is what I believe is the hidden key in these passages to stop modern day dystopia for those living in a world we only imagine.
Entry #3
any way? Why?
The mood of this novel is more frightening and grim rather than sad. This book enlightens readers of how simple matters like the loss of mankind’s sight could turn the world’s stability upside down. The novel suggests that social issues, philosophies on life, and ways of life we a
re accustomed to would be no longer existent in a dystopian world, making the path to savagery the easiest one for mankind. The main character Bill feels this mood immensely as he slowly realizes these opinions becoming reality. Bill’s thoughts brought me to an imaginative world where all that we knew of as being part of the human experience was gone. Would we be so different from savages? Could the “mighty” human race fail so easily? The more I thought, the more frightened I felt about the possibilities of this dystopian world.Above all, this book’s mood made me look at mankind coldly, without all the morals and aspects of being human. The brave and unabashed display of ideas in this dystopian world gave the book’s mood its strut of grim, scaring realization. I was somewhat surprised at this point-of-
view. It was almost as if I was examining something that was not what I was, something alien. Was this how mankind should really be looked upon? Is what we see in all our “human experience” just bias? If we were in the situation of those in the book, would we become savages or persist as civilized human being? I do not know. The mood that comes with these strings of ideas definitely has a frightening tone.Entry #2
Are there are any current situations in the world that relate to the
novel? What are they, and how do they relate? Does the novel shed any
light on how current situations could be resolved or “fixed”?
One situation that relates to this dystopian novel is the use of nuclear energy in society. Nuclear energy is an energy source discovered quite recently that is highly efficient but has some acknowledged setbacks. One of these setbacks is its power to destruct that is widely known through the nuclear bomb. In the novel, the triffids’ extracts are profitable for mankind. Thus men mass-produce them for and only for mankind’s benefits. The key point here is that the men knew what triffids were capable of but were too arrogant to compare
their intellect to mankind. 
This results in the fall of man. Likewise, nuclear energy is profitable but with one coincidence, like the green comets that blinded men in the novel, nuclear bombs could be unleashed upon mankind to bring a dystopian world.
The novel shows a triffid expert Walter playing with ideas of triffids and their capabilities. He was willing to lay down his pride and actually examine them straight-forwardly. As a result, Walter makes up his mind that triffids would be way better off for survival than a blind human would. This idea is planted into Bill’s mind and shows him later in the novel how a slightly humbled point of view could prove to be deadly accurate. Likewise, nuclear energy and its capabilities should not only be discovered and ignored but taken care of. Weapons as dangerous as nuclear bombs should not have been introduced to begin with. They only bring nothing decent into the world. This situation could be resolved 
with the disposing and banning of nuclear weapon development. However, mankind will have to let go of greed, power, and pride. This conclusion brings me to these questions. Why is man so desperate to gain power? Why is violence always the answer? “Is having power really for a country’s well-being? The world is filled with violence and a struggle for power. However I see nothing profited as a result. Bringing power into a country only reduces and brings poverty to others. Why is money and power such a big deal? Is it just inside a human? These questions should be reflected in all the hearts of the men of leadership that are making the world more and more like a triffid waiting for just one coincidence to dystopia.
Entry #1
why not? What is special about them? What do they reveal about the
universal human experience?
The main character in this novel is a man named Bill, a triffid expert that fortunately avoids becoming blind. To me, he’s a likeable character. He thinks logically, does not let situations fade his judgments, and he successfully uses his prior knowledge of triffids for the “survivors’” well-being.
In addition, his personality and reactions to the new display of ideas from the sociologist in the University building is quite humane. He feels unaccustomed to, reluctant to accepting the inconvenient truth of the need to accept new social customs, beliefs, and way of life. Like any other real human would, he was somewhat anxious to carry the responsibilities of being a part of the “new beginning.” Although he’s quite likeable, I disagree in some decisions he makes. He chooses to go with the community rather than running off with Josella which would have been much more manageable and efficient. After all, the community only made Bill suffer weeks of hard labor after which he found that the community had been disbanded.The thing that separates Bill from the rest of the survivors is that he has something other than survival on his mind. He mentions that he, unlike all those he met, had a new-found link or a
relationship with Josella. In other words, he had something to build on from the downfall of man unlike others who were down in despair. This is another part of Bill that I like. While most people are dumbfounded that the world that they knew had been destroyed in one night, Bill does not despair. He thinks of the 
future somewhat positively and focuses on getting in touch with Josella ASAP. Furthermore, he expresses how lonely and lifeless he felt when he was alone, searching for companionship. The text vividly portrayed Bill’s gratitude of finding Susan. I can see myself within Bill’s loneliness during my darkest times. Bill reveals that even if the constant desire for personal gain is brought into reality, nothing in life can be felt worth while without relationships to share them with.