45 pages • 1 hour read
John ChristopherThe White Mountains
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1967A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Freedom Versus Security
Through Will’s physical journey as well as his internal struggles, author John Christopher weighs the value of freedom against the stability and security that can sometimes be obtained by surrendering such freedom.
Christopher presents both drawbacks and apparent advantages of life under the Tripods as humans sacrifice agency for the perception of comfort and happiness. Early on, when Jack voices his concerns about being Capped, Will simply replies, “People are happy now” (15), a sentiment he likely heard repeated throughout the village while growing up. Even if his statement is not exactly the truth, it is not so far from the truth as to be completely unbelievable. Certainly, the inhabitants of Wherton seem to have what they need to survive; not even the Vagrants go hungry. Those who are able work each day, and there are no real wars or conflicts with other people. Of course, all of this comes with a caveat, which is that Capping is a prerequisite to living a peaceful life under the Tripods. Crucially, Capping does not actually improve the lives of those who are affected; rather, it improves their perception of their own lives without materially changing those lives. Instead of being truly happy under the Tripods, therefore, people only believe they are happy in a vague way, under the oppressive influence of the Caps. Even those, like Eloise, who enjoy a relatively exalted social position within the Tripods’ hierarchy are simply under a delusion of happiness; Will realizes that, without true agency, their chivalric codes and contests are mere trifles and distractions, devoid of any true moral substance. Meanwhile, the Tripods remain free to exploit humans as they see fit.
Christopher contrasts life under the Tripods with Will’s struggle to obtain freedom. Will’s journey to the White Mountains is fraught with pain and difficulty, demonstrating the heavy price in terms of personal comfort and stability that Will must pay for only the chance of finding some degree of lasting freedom. Even when Will arrives at the White Mountains, he finds that life remains difficult. He reports, “We have nothing in the way of luxury, and would not want it if we could: minds and bodies must be kept taut and trim for the tasks that lie ahead” (225-26). Despite this hardship, Will, for his part, leaves no doubt that he considers his journey to be worth it. He would much rather “live among men whose minds are their own” than submit to the Tripods in exchange for a life of ease (227). By contrasting Will’s arduous journey to the mountains with the relative ease of a Capped life, the novel foregrounds that comfort and security can prevent individuals from understanding the circumstances of their own oppression; only those who, like Will, refuse to yield to the allure of comfort can achieve lasting freedom.
The Wonder of Human Ingenuity
Throughout the novel, author John Christopher employs a technique known as defamiliarization to invite readers to consider modern human society (specifically, Western society contemporary with the novel’s publication in 1967) through a fresh perspective that celebrates human achievement, especially technological achievement.
Will and his friends’ encounters with unfamiliar human technology reveal the awe-inspiring nature of innovation when such innovation is removed from its commonplace context. These encounters are marked by defamiliarization, a literary device that involves making commonplace objects appear unfamiliar. One example from the text includes Will’s description of their first encounter with cars, long since abandoned in the ruins of Paris:
But one of the first skeletons we saw was slumped inside a rusted oblong, humped in the middle, which rested on metal wheels, rimmed with a hard black substance. There were other similar contraptions, and Beanpole stopped by one and peered inside. He said, “Places for men to sit. And wheels. So, a carriage of some nature” (93).
Significantly, Will does not use the words “car,” “automobile,” or “tire,” as these words are not in his vocabulary. The boys go on to debate the nature of these abandoned vehicles, with Beanpole concluding that they were able to move “without horses,” a conclusion that modern readers will know to be correct even as Will rejects it as absurd. The effect of such passages that involve encounters with the technology of the past is to allow readers to see the technologies they likely take for granted as if for the first time. Will and Henry’s comments about these technologies usually involve disbelief, while Beanpole’s astute observations hint at the often surprising mechanisms and purposes underlying such technologies.
In addition to highlighting remarkable technologies of the past, Christopher also points the way forward to continued innovation and progress. In several cases, Beanpole comments on how easy it would be to renew and reimplement various technologies. Meanwhile, the boys’ defeat of a Tripod suggests that human technology is not so far behind the Tripods as to render them defenseless.
Given the context of the war against the Tripods, however, Christopher’s text can also be read as carrying a subtle warning about the dangers of technology misapplied. Specifically, the Tripods’ use of technology that “grows into the skin” (195), both in the form of Caps and the device used to track Will, is regarded as destructive and disruptive to human life. The implication is that, in pursuing growth and progress through technology, societies must not risk infecting or diluting the very human identity that allowed for such progress in the first place.
Bonding Through Adversity
Through the unlikely friendship that develops between former rivals Will and Henry, author John Christopher explores the potential for shared adversity to strengthen personal bonds.
As the novel opens, Will and Henry are openly antagonistic to each other. Growing up as cousins in a small town, they have a habit of fighting each other. When Will wears his father’s valuable watch without permission, Henry takes it from him and threatens to wear it himself, even at the risk that both would be punished for it. Henry happily points out that Will’s father “lays on heavier” than his own does (8). Mere chance brings Henry and Will together as traveling companions, not any affection between them. Will leaves because he does not want to be Capped, and Henry tags along for much the same reason, with both acting primarily out of self-interest.
Though their dynamic begins to shift positively when Will must rely on his cousin after injuring his ankle, the boys’ relationship is tested after Beanpole joins their expedition. Will and Henry each try to gain Beanpole’s favor and turn his presence to their advantage. At first, Will focuses his attention on Beanpole, and Henry is “left out of things” (96). Later, by the time they pass through Paris, the situation has reversed, with Henry and Beanpole drawing close together as Will feels neglected. This situation is extended and exacerbated during the weeks they spend at the Comtesse’s castle, where Beanpole and Henry deepen their mutual friendship even as Will distances himself from them. Some of the old resentments creep back into their relationship, now enhanced by the class difference that divides them, with Will enjoying a life of luxury under the personal care of the Comtesse’s family. Indeed, Henry’s opinion of Will dips so severely during this period that he is genuinely surprised to see Will join him and Beanpole after they make their escape from the castle grounds. Beanpole’s involuntary role in straining the cousins’ already tense relationship reveals how external situations can serve as battlegrounds for existing interpersonal disputes, highlighting that adversity does not always lead to lasting friendship.
However, as Will and Henry face ever greater challenges and discomforts during the novel’s closing chapters, their relationship is finally renewed and deepened. After it becomes necessary to painfully cut the tracking device from Will’s arm, Henry admits that “he would have shrieked a lot more” (222). Later, when Will falters on the journey, almost allowing himself to collapse and give up, Henry and Beanpole together lift him to his feet and encourage him to continue. By the end of the novel, even though their personalities and personal histories have not altered, Will and Henry have come to appreciate and value each other’s support. A friendship that would likely never have formed under prosperous circumstances instead flourishes during hardship, as each learns to accept and offer support in the pursuit of a common goal.
