The Importance of Free Thought

This is the narrative's central theme, anchoring and defining both its action and the personal transformations of its characters. On one level, exploration of this theme applies on a book-specific, literal level. Everything the Tripods do is an assault on free thought, while everything that Laurie and the other principal characters (Pa, Andy, Martha, Ilse, and the others) do is a defense of free thought. On another, more metaphorical level, the narrative's exploration of this theme is a condemnation of such assaults in general. In other words, there is the strong sense that the influence of the Tripods is intended to be a symbolic representation of the domination of earthly dictatorships which, as in the case of the Tripods, are defined and motivated by the determination to suppress individual thought in order to gain and maintain power. This sense is supported by the author's...