Or a pile of sheets or laundry almost anything at all, or nothing at all, would do.” “You saw nothing, Miles … Except a rolled-up rug, maybe on a shelf in Becky’s basement. Psychiatrist Mannie Kaufmann (or rather, his clone) says it’s Miles who is imagining things: The supporting cast of the story are doctors and psychiatrists – trusted professions. But I do want you to realize he’s your uncle, no matter what you feel, and that the trouble is inside you.’ ‘I don’t expect you to stop feeling emotionally that this isn’t your uncle. In fact, the aliens plan to colonise and consume the entire country, then the world.Īnd yet, when the invasion begins, Miles tells the first witnesses that they’re delusional. Their former family and friends are out to capture and clone them, too. Once Miles and Becky suspect what’s happening, they can trust no one. (This kind of body swapping is also key to The Stepford Wives.) The spores then infiltrate and take over the bodies of local residents. Alien spores have drifted through the furthest reaches of space to land in Santa Mira. To be fair, protagonists Miles and Becky have much to be mistrustful about. Either way, paranoia defines the spirit of Finney’s novel. It can also be a deep sense of fear, particularly of the motivations of others. What do we mean by paranoia? At the broadest level, we’re talking about delusion, typically underpinned by a sense of persecution. The significance of the colour white in Fahrenheit 45 1.

It sounds like a mass delusion until Miles sees one of the ‘imposters’ for himself – a discovery that puts him in terrifying danger.

Then Miles discovers patients all over California are saying similar things. Becky’s cousin Wilma says someone – or some thing – has taken over her uncle’s body. When Becky Driscoll turns up at his surgery, Dr Miles Bennell is drawn into a bizarre mystery. Published in 1955, Jack Finney’s novel The Body Snatchers captures a community – and country – gripped by fear and mistrust.

Invasion of the body snatchers book