Category: Alien Invasion

The novel ‘The Day of The Triffids’ By John Wyndham contains important ideas of what humanity is like, in an engaging manner characters will react to certain scenarios created by John Wyndham. Some characters made by Wyndham will take drastic measures to survive while others characters will choose a more peaceful way to survive. The novel is about a comet strike that landed in Triffids that produces green flashing lights and blinded most of the population, the sighted characters go on a journey to find a way to survive.

From a close study of ‘The Day of The Triffids’ the readers understand about the notion of good and bad and how trouble times can make people think about what is going to happen. This is shown in the quote “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…” this was when Coker sees the comet blast as an Indication that the past is all gone and everything is up for grabs now. The use of “would” in the quote contains high modality language which states that everything is gone for sure. In the quote it shows that it is purely Cokers opinion about the whole comet blast situation as it contains “The way I see it” in the quote.

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’, 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 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 Wyndham 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 this instance, the comet blast and the dangerous plants.

The novel, ‘The Andromeda Strain’, written by Michael Crichton, was written as a warning for the dangers of introducing foreign bacteria to the earth. ‘The Andromeda Strain’ outlines the multitude of possibilities that may arise from human exposure to extraterrestrial life, eventually focusing singularly on one of the most damaging outcomes. Crichton leads us through the complexities of how such harmful organisms can be a menace to the human population, yet also how alien bacteria can be put to use through painstakingly long experiments and careful examination of what could possibly be, mankind’s greatest weapon.

In ‘The Andromeda Strain’, Crichton established the danger of the alien bacteria by giving a small, but thorough example of what the organism does to people. When a space probe, crashes 12 miles from a small town in Arizona, it infects the people with a deadly disease…one that kills in a peculiar way. Some people died within seconds, their blood having clotted instantly from the chest outwards, while others were driven to the point of madness, eerie notes left behind then followed by grim suicides. But they all had one thing in common; they all died except for 2 people: an old ‘addict’ and a newborn child. Crichton establishes a thrilling plot to emphasize the danger of foreign life on earth and the race to neutralize it.

Another example of Crichton’s warnings is when he discusses the possible use of this devastatingly bizarre bacterial strain as a potential biological weapon. “The true aims of ‘Scoop’ were to find new life forms that might benefit the Fort Detrick program. In essence, it was a study to discover new biological weapons of war” (Crichton, 1969, page 44). Using biological weapons is thought to be a depraved or dishonest act, deemed illegal by the ‘international community.’ However, the United States government still endeavored to create a formidable bioweapon from alien origins, resulting in the death of an entire town’s population.

Finally, Crichton involves very detailed explanations of the processes needed to examine and experiment with the alien organisms. Seeing as these organisms are harmful to most animals, one could infer that the experiments would be gruesome and wasteful with unnecessary ending of life, both animal and human. Crichton delves deeply into the experimentation on animals and the effects of testing on them along with humans. Although nothing goes wrong with the analysis of the humans, in a real-life environment, there are too many uncontrollable factors that could lead to death, or worse, a contamination on a global scale.

In conclusion, Michael Crichton effectively described one of the worst catastrophes that could take place as a result of the human need to harm and wage war. Already, governments around the world have heeded Crichton’s warning, consequently, the use of biological weapons has become illegal. ‘The Andromeda Strain’ was an insightful read and a strong warning at a time when we are in such a dire need of one. In a thriller and an informational novel, Crichton has succeeded in raising awareness for a rising threat in our modern world that could have deadly consequences.

Robert Heinlein’s ‘Starship Troopers’ incorporates different nature, social, and gender clusters into a militaristic utopian society. Among those collections, Heinlein institutes several obvious differences between the two sides. The two nature groups divided in the story consist of the human race and the opposition, which are beings with characteristics that differ from humans and reside on other planets. The social structure outlined in the utopian society features a side of citizens with power and others who do not hold any political or social importance. Gender roles are also highlighted in the story with men and women making up the two halves. ‘Starship Troopers’ contains several instances of a strict division between two groups of individuals or beings to approve and honor one side while denouncing the other.

Heinlein introduces other races into the story to create conflict between the human race and the alien race. The aliens or other race hold values and operating practices which differ from those of the humans. The most notable opposition against humans in the story comes from the bugs, a pseudo arachnid race hailing from several distant planets. The drastic differences between the two sides focus mainly on the organizational structure and mindset about military participation. The human race in the story features a military with a heavily regimented system. Each military member is assigned a specific rank which corresponds to different castes and importance levels. When the Major is describing the enlisting process and the importance associated with it to Rico, he declares “Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination – devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues – which a man must develop himself; if he has them forced down him, he will vomit them out” (Heinlein, 195). Here, the Major reminds Rico of the weight serving one’s country holds but does not disregard the importance of being an individual. No one is required to give up their time and freedom for the good of the state, but they are encouraged and have the option to do so. On the contrary, the Bugs and their militaristic opposition against the humans are set up with key differences. Bugs honor a more collective mindset, with only three true tiers. The warriors and non-warrior bugs make up the masses, with each bug being identical and performing the same tasks. To add, the bugs are systematically bred for the sole purpose of fighting. They possess no defining characteristics on an individual basis and are easily replaces. When Rico explains the nature of the bugs, he describes them as “communal entities, the ultimate dictatorship of the hive” (Heinlein, 142). In this way, Rico recognizes the lack of individualism which exists in the Bug’s race. Heinlein implements this drastic difference between the two sides of the war to complement the humans and condemn the bugs. The humans societal and militaristic system mirrors that of right-wing ideology which Heinlein supported during the Cold War. On the other hand, Heinlein created the bugs to represent the far left and communist ideals, which he very much opposed. The war between the humans and the bugs indisputably correlates to the Cold War, with Heinlein praising the humans for the individualistic approach while criticizing the Bugs and their more collective view of society.

Robert Heinlein very obviously implements a divide between men and women in the story through small distinctions and details. Although there are no instances of outright discrimination or abuse towards women, Heinlein provides underlying’s that exemplify the bias against women. When Rico gets jostled around during a trip on the spaceship, he explains “when a female handles a ship, there is nothing comfortable about it… But I must admit that Captain Deladrier knows her trade” (Heinlein, 7). Here, Rico brings in the concept of gender unnecessarily and associates an uncomfortable ride with a female pilot. In this way, Rico makes known his negative bias against women. The language Rico uses, specifically the phrase “I must admit” explains that Rico usually thinks poorly of women in this specific field, with Captain Deladrier as an exception. When Rico describes Carmen, a childhood friend of his who he ultimately enlists with, he explains that the “fact was, little Carmen was so ornamental that you just never thought about her being useful” (Heinlein, 29). Here, Rico does not bash or insult his friend, but he acknowledges his fundamental view of women. Rico adores Carmen and highlights her positive attributes and qualities previous to this part in the story yet does not see her as being ‘useful’. This proves to be problematic, as Rico subconsciously reduces Carmen and women to a position below men. He believes men hold all of the responsibility and are to be the dominant gender. The position of women amongst the ranks of the military in the story’s society highlights the structural flaws which exist in the society. From an organizational standpoint, women do not act as high ranking military officials, which is one of the few ways to advance socially in the story’s society. To gain a high political standing and in turn gain power, one must ascend to high power in the military. As a result, men dominate the social and political side of the company which restricts the voice of women. Although there are no stated restrictions on women becoming high ranking generals or garnishing political power, the system is geared for women to fail. Heinlein undoubtedly instills a gender division in the story through the systematic and poor portrayal of women.

The story implements two unique social castes into the framework of the earthly society that possesses different levels of importance and influence. The society, known as the ‘Terran Federation’ features two main levels of people; civilians and citizens. The civilians are ordinary humans and are free to live on earth. Citizens are much like civilians except for one key distinction; they have the right to vote. The title of citizenship is granted to an individual after he or she completes two full years of service to the federation in some way, shape or form. When Rico explains the way his captain used to describe citizenship, he explicates “citizenship is an attitude, a state of mind, an emotional conviction that the whole is greater than the part… and that the part should be humbly proud to sacrifice itself that the whole may live” (Heinlein, 171). Here, Rico makes it abundantly clear that the Terran Federation holds the value of patriotism above everything else. Implementing this system of citizenship makes it obvious who has served and sacrificed and who has not. Those who have been honored and rewarded for their time and those who have not are belittled and not given a voice. The federation and the rules set forth make it “hard to enroll” in service and “so easy to resign” (Heinlein, 195), which ensures those who do enlist are genuine and carry the best interests at heart. Heinlein adds these different social and political castes to instill his personal belief that the most powerful and influential individuals should be the ones that have sacrificed the most, while also calling out those who do not.

The novel ‘Starship Troopers’ contains several instances of a firm division between a normalized race or group of people and an ‘other’. Through these divisions, Heinlein can applaud and approve one side while condemning the other. The human race in the story, which connects back to right wing-ideology at the time the book was written, highlights individualism while the bugs, which connect to left-wing communist ideology, are denounced. From a gender perspective, obvious details put men above women in all areas of society, speaking on behalf of Heinlein’s personal views. Last, those with the right to vote and those who cannot are divided in the social caste system of the planet, with those who sacrificed and served above those who have not.