The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds

Published in 1898 The War of the Worlds is a slighter and more fanciful tale than The Time Machine, with much of the narrative given over to a semi-factual and adventure-based account of the Martian invasion of the Home Counties and its devastating impact on civilization as we know it: there is very little of the overt moralizing found in the earlier tale, although the social and political dimensions are contained here as in The Time Machine. Evolutionary thought is expressed in the narration, showing once again Wells's thinking is premised on scientific principles. More interesting, however, is the fact that the Martians are themselves Imperialists, with a legitimate motive for conquest and exploitation of Earth, just as late Victorian British Imperialism had been legitimated by the need to colonize and civilize 'alien' civilizations. These "imperialist" parallels are not laboured in the story, but they can be seen in passages in the 'Epilogue', with its references to the 'commonweal' of mankind brought about by the Invasion, and the ultimate question "Should we conquer?".

Civilization. The world of late Victorian British society is explored in a number of interesting ways in the novel, through the "defamiliarising" device the alien invasion. The opening of the novel sets the security and complacency of this society against the cosmic perspective of the Martian world, and the "great disillusionment" which is brought about by the coming of the Martians. In the process of Invasion the Martians turn this society on its head, into chaos and anarchy. How, then, does Wells portray this society which can be attacked and destroyed so readily? Look at the various stages of the invasion, and the ways in which the public move from ignorance and complacency, to fear and panic, to mass rioting and civil insurrection. Look particularly at the portrayal of the Curate and the lessons this contains for the place of orthodox religion to the empirical reality of the Martians. Look also at the Artillery-man's vision of the life to come, and of a resistance movement of fighters and scientists (Part II, Chapter 7), and at the opening of that chapter, where the narrator remarks on the lessons of the invasion and the need to acquire sympathy for "those witless souls who suffer our dominion".

The Martians. The portrayal of the Martians is interesting and raises a number of questions about alternative ways in which they might have been portrayed. There is a tension, within the novel, between seeing the Martians as repulsive Bug-Eyed Monsters, and the more scientific and biological view of them. Clearly they are not wholly "evil", and Wells does provide a kind of scientific and political framework within which their invasion tactics and actions are legitimate and explicable. How, then, doe the narrative portray them as being 'other' to "us"? Look particularly at the first descriptions (in Part I, Ch 4), and more interestingly, at Part II, Chapter 2, where Wells presents more 'scientific' discussion of their anatomy, sex life, culture and behaviour.

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Finally, as with The Time Machine, what conclusions does the narrative appear to come to, particularly in terms of the portrayal of human life in relation to the cosmic scheme of things? Is it, as some have argued, a generally anti-imperialist work, or do you regard it simply as an imaginative (or fanciful and escapist) scientific 'romance', a vehicle for Wells's exploration of the fanciful and extraordinary?

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