War of the Worlds Essay
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells was first published in 1898. At this time Britain had the largest empire in the world therefore the British considered themselves highly superior to any ‘outsiders’. The British Empire at this time consumed probably a third of the entire Planet. Britain had acquired this empire by seeing others countries as no real threat, and required little effort in order to defeat them and gain their land and empires. In the Victorian era very few people had very little knowledge of Mars or any other planet and this is where Wells invents an outrageous story about ‘the cold and desolate planet’ that people will believe because they do not know otherwise.
Right from the start Wells contrasts and mocks the British attitude by saying, “Human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their affairs they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm in a drop of water.” Wells bases whatever he says on scientific fact and language. This is because it is a field of knowledge that many people are familiar with. “The planet Mars, I scarcely need remind the reader, revolves about the sun at a mean distance of 140,000,000 miles.” Wells makes what seems like an unbelievable story realistic by including current affairs and news stories. By bringing real life into the story he makes the fiction into something marginally believable. Wells’ book was probably the first to ever speak of Martians, and the actual destruction of London itself. The destruction of such a huge empire at this time and the attitude of the British created an immense story, which made it so original and overall incredibly shocking to the whole nation.
The invaders are introduced into the novel as higher beings and more intelligent. “They view our...