White Mountains Blog 3

How were the Tripods able to control the people?

The Tripods mostly controlled the people with the caps, but only the men, I believe the men persuaded the women that it was fine and the Tripods were friendly which the women gave into and trusted the Tripods and men. The Tripods also controlled the people because they were just very used to the Tripods capping people when they are going through puberty, and treated it as a ceremonial event, because it only happens once every year. I also think the Tripods controlled people by giving them luxury and hospitality which the people liked.

Here is a quote from the text to show what I mean: "They were Capped, they accepted the Tripods and all they stood for, but that did not prevent them from being, as I had seen in the Comte and Comtesse and Eloise and now in others, warmhearted, generous and brave. And happy." (page 122)
This shows how the humans give into the control of the Tripods and think everything is happy but in reality the Tripods are aliens taking over the world.

Find evidence (quotations from the novel) to show that even though Will is comfortable living in the castle, he is frustrated that Comte, Comtesse, and Eloise have been capped.

"More and more I had come to see the Capped as lacking what seemed to me the essence of humanity, the vital spark of defiance against the rulers of the world. And I had despised them for it - despised even, for all their kindness to me and their goodness, the Comte and Comtesse."(page 116) This is when Will is thinking about how even though the Comte and Comtesse have been so kind to him he hates them for letting Eloise go and being slaves to the Tripods. The author uses the word "despise" twice to describe how Will feels, and shows how Will does not even think the Comte and Comtesse are human.

"With me, what had emerged was not uncertainty, but the reverse. Nothing could come of my friendship with her: a hard black line had been scored across it. The only thing to do was forget about it and concentrate on the important thing, which was getting to the White Mountains." (page 117) This sentence comes after Will has tried to pull off Eloise's Cap. This event is important because it shows that Will has decided to go to the White Mountains instead of staying in the Red Castle, because Eloise is going away and has just been Capped so now she is a slave to the Tripods. Will had thought that love was freedom so he stayed with Eloise until he found out that she was going to the City of the Tripods. So now he knows that escaping the wrath of the Tripods and not being Capped is the real freedom.

Find Evidence (quotes) to show how Will feels about being capped.

"Before Capping there might be doubts and uncertainties and revulsion; perhaps these people had known them, too. When the cap was put on, the doubts vanished. How great a loss was that? Was it a loss at all? The Tripods, apart from the act of Capping itself, did not seem to interfere much with men." (page 123) At this part of the novel Will is convincing himself that Capping might not be that bad and he might be willing to get Capped to be with Eloise. He still thinks that the Capping might be fine and questions whether losing "doubts and uncertainties" are a loss at all. He is asking himself these questions so I would say that he wasn't too afraid of getting capped by the Tripods at this point.

"More and more I had come to see the Capped as lacking what seemed to me the essence of humanity, the vital spark of defiance against the rulers of the world." (page 116) In this part of the book Will is slowly starting to realize just how evil the Tripods are and how inhuman the Capping is. The author is using strong words like "essence of humanity" and "vital spark of defiance" to describe how Will is getting more power in his feelings about the situation.