The White Mountains

The White Mountains is a 1967 young adult dystopian novel by John Christopher. It is the first volume in a trilogy known as The Tripods. Set in a future where enormous mechanical tripods have subjugated humanity, the plot follows a young man’s struggle to reach a distant community of people who resist the tripods’ domination. Against this backdrop, Christopher explores themes related to freedom, human ingenuity, and overcoming obstacles through teamwork. The novel was adapted into a television series called The Tripods in 1984, although the series was canceled before the full trilogy could be adapted.

This guide refers to the 2014 Aladdin edition.

Content Warning: The source text discusses enslavement and a hypothetical death by suicide.

Plot Summary

Thirteen-year-old Will Parker lives in the small town of Wherton, England, in about 2070; a century earlier, large, mechanical Tripods appeared and conquered humanity, using surgically implanted Caps to control individuals when they reach the age of 14. Under the Tripods’ rule, human society and technology have reverted to medieval norms.

As the novel opens, Will’s cousin and best friend Jack is Capped. Afterward, Will feels that Jack is no longer the same person he knew. As a result, Will becomes concerned about his own upcoming Capping. One day, he meets a wanderer who calls himself Ozymandias. Ozymandias reveals that his own Cap is a fake and that he belongs to a secret society of people who resist the Tripods’ control. He gives Will a map leading to the secret society, far away in the White Mountains, and then leaves the village.

Will decides to travel to the White Mountains. On the night he leaves, he is followed by his cousin, Henry, with whom he shares a contentious relationship. Henry asks to come with him, and Will reluctantly agrees. Over the next few days, they travel south, moving mainly at night. On one occasion, running from what turns out to be a flock of sheep, Will trips and injures his ankle. Henry carries him to a nearby abandoned hut, where he rests for a few days.

Will and Henry continue south to a port town, where they locate Captain Curtis, a friend of Ozymandias. He hides them on his ship and takes them across the English Channel to France; at one point, several Tripods surround the ship, demonstrating that they control the seas as well as the land.

In France, Will and Henry are quickly captured by a group of people who mistake them for saboteurs. An inventive, analytical boy named Jean-Paul helps them escape and decides to join them on their journey; they give him the nickname “Beanpole.”

Continuing south, the three boys pass through the ruins of Paris, France, where they are fascinated by the technologies of the past, including cars, underground trains, watches, and more. They even locate a pack of grenades, and Beanpole takes several with him.

Leaving the city, they continue south. When Will becomes ill, they hide in a barn, where they are discovered and captured by a local farmer. A local noblewoman, the Comtesse de la Tour Rouge, takes Will into her household as he recovers; Henry and Beanpole, meanwhile, are assigned as knights-in-training. Over the next few weeks, Will becomes good friends with the Comtesse’s daughter, Eloise, who teaches him to speak French and ride horses. The Comtesse becomes fond of Will and even offers to bestow a title on him.

Will, Henry, and Beanpole plan to sneak away during a major festival. At Will’s suggestion, Henry and Beanpole leave without him since he knows his own absence will draw more attention than theirs. Secretly, Will struggles to decide whether to go or to accept a comfortable life, even at the cost of being Capped. Only when he learns that Eloise is to be sent away permanently to live in the city of the Tripods does Will decide to follow Henry and Beanpole.

As he leaves the castle, Will is spotted by a Tripod, which captures him and plants a tracking device under his skin and then erases his memory of the procedure. Traveling by horse, Will soon catches up to Henry and Beanpole. As they continue on foot, however, they realize that the Tripod is tracking them without even seeing them and speculate that it wants to find out where they are going. After Henry spots the tracking device under Will’s arm, Beanpole offers to cut it out. Will accepts, though the procedure is very painful.

Once the Tripod realizes that Will no longer has the tracking device, it begins to hunt the boys. It soon catches up to them, though they manage to kill it using the grenades they found in Paris. Soon, the area is swarming with other Tripods that are determined to capture the boys, who hide in the crevice of a rock until the Tripods leave. After traveling for a few more days, the boys finally arrive at the White Mountains, where they join a society determined to overthrow the Tripods’ rule. Though their lives are not easy or comfortable, they are glad to be free.