The Midwich Cuckoos
Encyclopedia
The Midwich Cuckoos is a science fiction
novel
written by English author John Wyndham
, published in 1957
. It has been filmed twice as Village of the Damned in 1960 and 1995.
. Suspecting gas poisoning, the army
is called in. However, they find that a caged canary
becomes unconscious upon entering the affected region, but regains consciousness when removed. Further experiments show the region to be a hemisphere
with a diameter of 2 miles (3.2 km) around the village. Aerial photography
reveals an unidentifiable ground-based silver object in the centre of the created exclusion zone.
After one day the effect vanishes along with the unidentified object, and the villagers wake with no apparent ill effects. Some months later, the villagers realise that every woman of child-bearing age is pregnant, with all indications that the pregnancies were caused by xenogenesis during the period of unconsciousness referred to as the "Dayout".
When the 31 boys and 30 girls are born they appear normal except for their unusual, golden eyes and pale, silvery skin. These children have none of the genetic characteristics of their parents. As they grow up, it becomes increasingly apparent that they are, at least in some respects, not human
. They possess telepathic
abilities, and can control others' actions. The Children (they are referred to with a capital 'C') have two distinct group minds
: one for the boys and another for the girls. Their physical development is accelerated compared to that of humans; upon reaching the age of nine, they appear to be sixteen-year-olds.
The Children protect themselves as much as possible using a form of mind control. One young man who accidentally hits a Child in the hip while driving a car is made to drive into a wall and kill himself. A bull who chased the Children is forced into a pond to drown. The villagers form a mob and try to burn down the Midwich Grange, where the Children are taught and live, but the Children make the villagers attack each other.
The Military Intelligence
department learn that the same thing has taken place in four other parts of the world, including an Inuit
settlement in the Canadian
Arctic
, a small township in Australia's Northern Territory
, and a rural Siberia
n village. The Inuit instinctively killed the newborn Children, sensing they were not their own. The Australian babies had all died within a few weeks, suggesting that something may have gone wrong with their xenogenesis process. The Siberian village was destroyed by the Soviet government, using nuclear weapons, claiming that it was an accident.
The Children are aware of the threat against them, and use their power to prevent any aeroplanes from flying over the village. During an interview with a Military Intelligence officer the Children explain that to solve the problem they must be destroyed. They explain it is not possible to kill them unless the entire village is bombed, which results in civilian deaths. It is revealed that the Children have put up an ultimatum
: The Children want to migrate to a secure location, where they can live unharmed. They demand aeroplanes from the government.
An elderly, educated Midwich resident (Gordon Zellaby) realises the Children must be killed as soon as possible. As he has a only a few weeks left to live due to a heart condition, he feels an obligation to do something. He has acted as a teacher and mentor to the Children and they regard him with as much affection as they can have for any human, letting him approach them more closely than they do with others. One evening, he - in effect abusing their trust - hides a bomb in his projection equipment, while showing the Children a film about the Aegean Islands
of Ancient Greece
. At an unspecified moment, Zellaby sets off the bomb, killing the Children and himself.
The title is a reference to the cuckoo
bird, which lays its eggs in the nest of other birds in the hopes that they will raise the cuckoo's offspring as their own.
reaction to the same situation, comparing it to the central story (of a British reaction).
wrote that Wyndham's novelistic treatment "is deadly serious, and I'm sorry to say, deadly dull... about page 90 the story begins to bog down under layers of polite restraint, sentimentality, lethargy and women's-magazine masochism, and it never lifts its head long again."
However another reviewer wrote that it "remains a cracking good read in spite of some obviously dated elements.
Galaxy
columnist Floyd C. Gale, reviewing the original issue, praised the novel as "a most off-trail and well-written invasion yarn."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by English author John Wyndham
John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer who usually used the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes...
, published in 1957
1957 in literature
The year 1957 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Lawrence Durrell publishes the first volume of The Alexandria Quartet. The final of the four volumes will be published in 1960....
. It has been filmed twice as Village of the Damned in 1960 and 1995.
Plot summary
Ambulances arrive at two traffic accidents which block the only roads into the fictional British village of Midwich, Winshire. Attempting to approach the village, one paramedic falls unconsciousUnconsciousness
Unconsciousness is the condition of being not conscious—in a mental state that involves complete or near-complete lack of responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli. Being in a comatose state or coma is a type of unconsciousness. Fainting due to a drop in blood pressure and a...
. Suspecting gas poisoning, the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
is called in. However, they find that a caged canary
Domestic Canary
The Domestic Canary, often simply known as the canary, is a domesticated form of the wild Canary, a small songbird in the finch family originating from the Macaronesian Islands ....
becomes unconscious upon entering the affected region, but regains consciousness when removed. Further experiments show the region to be a hemisphere
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...
with a diameter of 2 miles (3.2 km) around the village. Aerial photography
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
reveals an unidentifiable ground-based silver object in the centre of the created exclusion zone.
After one day the effect vanishes along with the unidentified object, and the villagers wake with no apparent ill effects. Some months later, the villagers realise that every woman of child-bearing age is pregnant, with all indications that the pregnancies were caused by xenogenesis during the period of unconsciousness referred to as the "Dayout".
When the 31 boys and 30 girls are born they appear normal except for their unusual, golden eyes and pale, silvery skin. These children have none of the genetic characteristics of their parents. As they grow up, it becomes increasingly apparent that they are, at least in some respects, not human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
. They possess telepathic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
abilities, and can control others' actions. The Children (they are referred to with a capital 'C') have two distinct group minds
Group mind (science fiction)
A group mind, hive mind or group ego in science fiction is a single consciousness occupying many bodies. Its use in literature goes back at least as far as Olaf Stapledon's science fiction novel Last and First Men ....
: one for the boys and another for the girls. Their physical development is accelerated compared to that of humans; upon reaching the age of nine, they appear to be sixteen-year-olds.
The Children protect themselves as much as possible using a form of mind control. One young man who accidentally hits a Child in the hip while driving a car is made to drive into a wall and kill himself. A bull who chased the Children is forced into a pond to drown. The villagers form a mob and try to burn down the Midwich Grange, where the Children are taught and live, but the Children make the villagers attack each other.
The Military Intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
department learn that the same thing has taken place in four other parts of the world, including an Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
settlement in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
, a small township in Australia's Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
, and a rural Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n village. The Inuit instinctively killed the newborn Children, sensing they were not their own. The Australian babies had all died within a few weeks, suggesting that something may have gone wrong with their xenogenesis process. The Siberian village was destroyed by the Soviet government, using nuclear weapons, claiming that it was an accident.
The Children are aware of the threat against them, and use their power to prevent any aeroplanes from flying over the village. During an interview with a Military Intelligence officer the Children explain that to solve the problem they must be destroyed. They explain it is not possible to kill them unless the entire village is bombed, which results in civilian deaths. It is revealed that the Children have put up an ultimatum
Ultimatum
An ultimatum is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance. An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series of requests...
: The Children want to migrate to a secure location, where they can live unharmed. They demand aeroplanes from the government.
An elderly, educated Midwich resident (Gordon Zellaby) realises the Children must be killed as soon as possible. As he has a only a few weeks left to live due to a heart condition, he feels an obligation to do something. He has acted as a teacher and mentor to the Children and they regard him with as much affection as they can have for any human, letting him approach them more closely than they do with others. One evening, he - in effect abusing their trust - hides a bomb in his projection equipment, while showing the Children a film about the Aegean Islands
Aegean Islands
The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...
of Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. At an unspecified moment, Zellaby sets off the bomb, killing the Children and himself.
The title is a reference to the cuckoo
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...
bird, which lays its eggs in the nest of other birds in the hopes that they will raise the cuckoo's offspring as their own.
Major characters
- Gordon Zellaby - an academically-minded man.
- Richard Gayford - a published writer and the narrator.
- Bernard Westcott - the middle man between Midwich and the military.
Major themes
The novel's central theme is that of society being subverted from within by a force which infiltrates one of its most cherished aspects: children. Throughout the book, many different philosophies are discussed as a way of coming to terms with the events in the story. The author describes a SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
reaction to the same situation, comparing it to the central story (of a British reaction).
Critical response
Damon KnightDamon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
wrote that Wyndham's novelistic treatment "is deadly serious, and I'm sorry to say, deadly dull... about page 90 the story begins to bog down under layers of polite restraint, sentimentality, lethargy and women's-magazine masochism, and it never lifts its head long again."
However another reviewer wrote that it "remains a cracking good read in spite of some obviously dated elements.
Galaxy
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
columnist Floyd C. Gale, reviewing the original issue, praised the novel as "a most off-trail and well-written invasion yarn."
Adaptations
- The novel was filmed as Village of the DamnedVillage of the Damned (1960 film)Village of the Damned is a 1960 British science fiction film by German director Wolf Rilla. The film is a fairly faithful adaptation of the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. The lead role of Professor Gordon Zellaby was played by George Sanders. This film was #92 on Bravo's 100 Scariest...
in 1960, with a script that was relatively faithful to the book. A sequel, Children of the DamnedChildren of the DamnedChildren of the Damned is a 1963 science fiction film, a thematic sequel to the 1960 version of Village of the Damned. It is about a group of children, with similar psi-powers to the original seeding, but without the obvious 'alien' differences in the earlier film.-Plot:Six children are identified...
, followed shortly afterwards. - A remakeVillage of the Damned (1995 film)John Carpenter's Village of the Damned is a 1995 science fiction-horror film directed by John Carpenter. It is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name which is based on the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. The 1995 remake is set in the United States, while the book and original film...
of the original was made in 1995 by John CarpenterJohn CarpenterJohn Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
set in Midwich, California and starring Christopher ReeveChristopher ReeveChristopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
in his last film role before he was paralysed in a riding accident. This movie also included Kirstie AlleyKirstie AlleyKirstie Louise Alley is an American actress known for her role in the TV show Cheers, in which she played Rebecca Howe from 1987–1993, winning an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1991...
as the government official Susan, a female character not present in the original novel. - There have also been several radio adaptations by the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
: - A radio dramatisation in 3 parts for the BBC World ServiceBBC World ServiceThe BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
by William Ingram was first broadcast in 1982. This version is regularly repeated on BBC Radio 7. It featured the following major cast members:
-
-
- Bernard Westcott - Charles KayCharles KayCharles Kay is an English actor.Kay was born in Coventry, West Midlands, the son of Frances and Charles Beckingham Piff....
- Gordon Zellaby - Manning Wilson
- Richard Gayford - William GauntWilliam GauntWilliam Charles Anthony Gaunt is an English actor, sometimes credited as Bill Gaunt.-Early life:...
- Angela Zellaby - Pauline YatesPauline YatesPauline Yates is an English actress best known for playing Elizabeth Perrin in the BBC television sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
- Ferrelyn - Jennie Quayle
- Janet Gayford - Rosalind Adams
- Alan Hughes - Gordon deLue
- Dr. Willers - Hugh Dickson
- Vicar Leebody - William Ingram
- Chief Constable - Ronald Baddiley
- The music was by Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic WorkshopBBC Radiophonic WorkshopThe BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
and production was by Gordon House. - In 2003, BBC Radio 4 aired a version by Dan RebellatoDan RebellatoDan Rebellato is an English dramatist and academic born in South London.He is Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London and has written extensively for radio and the stage. He has twice been nominated for a Sony Award, and writes regularly for The Guardian Theatre...
which starred Bill NighyBill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
(Richard), Sarah ParishSarah ParishSarah Parish is an English actress.Parish is known for her work on such TV series as: Peak Practice, Hearts and Bones, Cutting It, Doctor Who, Mistresses, Merlin and the new ITV medical drama Monroe....
(Janet), and Clive MerrisonClive MerrisonClive Merrison is a Welsh actor of film, television, stage and radio. He trained at Rose Bruford College.- Television :...
(Zellaby). The latter version was released on CD by BBC Audiobooks in 2007. - Wyndham began work on a sequel novel, Midwich Main, which he abandoned after only a few chapters.
- The ThaiThai peopleThe Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
film Kawao Thi Bang PhlengBlackbirds at BangplengBlackbirds at Bangpleng is a 1994 Thai science fiction horror film. Though it is based on a novel by the famous Thai writer and politician Kukrit Pramoj, the story closely mirrors The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, which itself was adapted into the 1960 film, Village of the Damned.-Plot:A...
(Cuckoos at Bangpleng) is a localized take on the story. It was based on a book by the famous Thai writer and politician, Kukrit PramojKukrit PramojMom Rajawongse Kukrit Pramoj was a Thai politician and scholar. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand 1973-1974 and was the thirteenth Prime Minister of Thailand, serving in office from 1975-1976.- Early years:Of royal descent, M.R...
, that was clearly based on unattributed wholesale borrowings from Wyndham's book. The Thai version contains intriguing differences due to the confrontation between the alien intelligences and Buddhist philosophy.
- The music was by Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
- Bernard Westcott - Charles Kay
-
Allusions/references from other works
- The Stepford CuckoosStepford CuckoosThe Stepford Cuckoos are a set of fictional mutant psychically linked quintuplets . They are students at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning and appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics...
, a group of New X-MenNew X-MenNew X-Men was a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics within the X-Men franchise. After the end of Grant Morrison's run on X-Men , titled New X-Men, the title was used for a new series, New X-Men: Academy X, serving as a continuation of the second volume of New Mutants...
characters were partly inspired by the Midwich Cuckoos. - The Golden in The Establishment were a trio of characters who looked like adult Midwich Cuckoos.
- In The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode, 'Wild Barts Can't Be BrokenWild Barts Can't Be Broken"Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons tenth season, which was originally broadcast on January 17, 1999. When Homer, Barney, Lenny, and Carl drunkenly vandalize Springfield Elementary School, it is blamed on the children of Springfield, prompting Chief Wiggum to impose...
', the children go to see a film entitled 'The Bloodening', a parody of Village of the Damned. The children in the film look like those from the film adaptation of The Midwich Cuckoos. - The Befort Children from the anime Fantastic ChildrenFantastic Childrenis a Japanese animated television series created by Takashi Nakamura and produced by Nippon Animation. It first aired on Japan across TV Tokyo between October 4, 2004 and March 28, 2005, totaling 26 episodes, and also received its satellite television premiere on the CS television network...
were also inspired by The Midwich Cuckoos. - "1440 Cuckoo" is a song written in 2006 by British singer/songwriter Pete DohertyPete DohertyPeter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
and was inspired by the serial number of the Penguin edition of the novel which Doherty read while in rehab at the Priory in London. - In SmallvilleSmallvilleSmallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
, episode 9 of season 3, entitled "Asylum" (2004), one of the characters is reading "The Midwich Cuckoos," which proves to be prophetic about that character's nature. - In Catherine JinksCatherine JinksCatherine Jinks is an Australian author. She has written more than 30 books for all ages, and has won many awards, including the Children's Book Council Of Australia Book of the Year Award three times, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction, the IBBY...
's book, Evil GeniusEvil Genius (novel)Evil Genius is a novel written by Catherine Jinks and published in 2005 by Allen & Unwin, Australia. The book follows the story of Cadel Piggot, a child prodigy.-Synopsis:...
, teachers of the main character, Cadel, speculate about the possibility of his physical resemblance to the children in The Midwich Cuckoos. - The plot of Beetle in the AnthillBeetle in the AnthillBeetle in the Anthill is a 1979 sci-fi novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky set in the Noon Universe.-Explanation of the novel's title:Beetle in the Anthill is the title of a theory explaining the Stepchildren phenomenon...
, a novel by Arkady and Boris StrugatskyArkady and Boris StrugatskyThe brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are Soviet Jewish-Russian science fiction authors who collaborated on their fiction.-Life and work:...
, has some similarities. Authorities of Earth have a great fear about the group of foundling children, alleged to be WanderersWanderers (Noon Universe)Wanderers are a fictional alien race from the Noon Universe created by Strugatsky brothers. Their homeworld is unknown. No official contact between Earth and Wanderers has ever been registered, although they've contacted humans from other planets, e.g...
' spies and probably even non-human. These children were moved out of Earth by a secret order of government, but later one of them came back to Earth and was killed by Earth's security service. - The weekly webcomic FreakAngelsFreakAngelsFreakAngels is a free weekly webcomic created by Eagle Award-winning writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield. In collected form, it is published in book format by Avatar Press...
, written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield, is also loosely based on The Midwich Cuckoos. It portrays characters of a similar type who have grown into adulthood. - In Elizabeth Bowen's 1964 novel, The Little Girls, a character notes another's unease at the impending birth of his grandchild; she notes that the man is terrified of children, and ruefully regrets having loaned him The Midwich Cuckoos to read: ‘Frank's terrified that some Hostile Race, which will go on to drive everyone else out, is at any moment going to begin to be born’ (The Little Girls, 229). This passage has been interpreted as reflecting the anxieties of the Cold War.
- In the videogame Silent HillSilent Hillis a survival horror video game series consisting of seven installments published by Konami and its subsidiary Konami Digital Entertainment. The first four games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4, have been developed by an internal factor, Team Silent...
, the local elementary school is called Midwich Elementary School. - Silent Hill: Shattered MemoriesSilent Hill: Shattered MemoriesSilent Hill: Shattered Memories is a survival horror video game for the Wii and the seventh installment in the Silent Hill series, being a "reimagining" of the first installment. Published by Konami Digital Entertainment and developed by Climax Studios, the game was released in December 2009, with...
introduces Midwich High School. The school's football team is called the Cuckoos, and its founder is named John Wyndham. - In Hearts in AtlantisHearts in AtlantisHearts in Atlantis is a collection of two novellas and three short stories by Stephen King, all connected to one another by recurring characters and taking place in roughly chronological order....
, a Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
novel, the film based on the novel is referred to by Bobby Garfield, one of the protagonists of the novel.