The Day of the Triffids

37theRagevirusisproducedinalaboratory,astheresultofwhatisimpliedtobeunethicalanimalexperiments,whilein
WorldWarZ
itisnaturallyoccurring,butthecatastrophicoutbreakistriggered,first,bythefloodinganddestructionofaChinesevillagebytheThreeGorgesdam,andthenamplifiedbyhumangreedandglobalcapitalism.Asin
TheDayoftheTriffids
,difficultethicaldecisionsarekeysourcesofconflictin
28DaysLater
and
WorldWarZ
.Inthefirst,Jimmustchoosebetweenhisownsurvival,whichwouldmeancondoningthegangrapeofSelenaandHelena,whichisseenas"necessary"toensurethesurvivalofthecivilization,orabandoningcivilizationby"goingoverthewall"and,ineffect,becominglikethezombiesbyfindinghisownrage.Difficultethicaldecisionsaboundin
WorldWarZ
,fromtheBoedekerPlantothedecisionsmadebytheJapanesesubmarinecommander,allofwhichareconsequencesoftheinitialsystemofglobalcapitalismthatplantedtheseedsoftheoutbreak.Inallthreenovels,whateverdifficultsituationsmustbefacedaretheconsequencesofhumanarroganceandgreed,andaprofoundmisunderstandingofNatureandourrelationtoit.Eachalsoprovidesdifferingimmediatesolutionstotheresultingsituation,butclearlysharethecentralideathattheonlyrealsolutionistotakeahardlookatourselvesandtheenvironmentwefindoutselvesin,andtoadoptanewwayofbeingthatdoesnotputhumansabovetherestoftheworld,butrecognizeshowwearesituatedwithinit.Myaimwiththispaperhasbeentodemonstratethat,farfrombeing"devoidofideas,"ora"cosycatastrophe,"
TheDayoftheTriffids
infactisaworkofintricatecomplexitythatbringsthereaderintoconfrontationwithanumberofuncomfortableideas.Ihavealsohopefullydemonstratedthat,ratherthanbeinga

38time-boundreflectionofpost-warBritishvalues,
TheDayoftheTriffids...