H.G. Wells’ Novel The War Of The Worlds Successfully Creates A Thrilling Climate Of Terror Which Often Reflects Late Victorian Insecurities. Discuss This Statement With Reference To The Purpose And Craft Of The Author – 1994 Words H.G. Wells’ novel “The War Of The Worlds” depends upon late Victorian insecurities to generate a thrilling climate of terror. Wells feeds off of the politics at that point in time, the ethics and beliefs of his contemporaries and also the sense of false pride and arrogance that white Victorians had considering that they were top of the natural selection hierarchy. He produces this climate of terror not only through the content of his writing, but by his use of language, structure and imagery. …show more content…
Many Britons feared this idea of a technologically advanced war at the time, as Britain was in a naval race with Germany. Germany was challenging Britain’s navy because Britain’s navy was the best in the world, and one of the main causes of Britain having such a vast empire. Britain were aware of the envy that Germany had, and were therefore fearing the fact that Germany may be secretly planning a war, much like the Martians silently planned an attack on Earth. Wells’ also wrote about Victorians losing their faith in religion and the church. Some Victorians believed that god was punishing them as a world war was looming and some even doubted his existence, as there was no proof for it. To illustrate this, Wells created the curate as a highly religious character who had faith in god and also questioned why god had brought this war upon them. The following quote illustrates this, when the curate said “The end! The great and terrible day of the Lord! When men shall call upon the mountains and the rocks to fall upon them and hide them--hide them from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne!”. This may have been an attempt by Wells to voice his opinion, saying that
In All Quiet on the Western Front, one of the themes associated with the war was the inhumanity of mankind. The motif of animal instincts between characters showcased this abandonment of humanity. In addition, the strong theme of nationalism throughout this time period encouraged the loss of individuality. Lastly, men in positions of authority in the novel dehumanized soldiers by abusing their position of power. Overall, the events of the war promoted the development of the inhumanity of mankind through recurring animal instincts, nationalism, and power-abusive men.
In the words of Miss Ida B. Wells: The student of American sociology will find the year of 1894 marked by a pronounced awakening of the public conscience to a system of anarchy and outlawry which had grown during a series of ten years to be so common, that scenes of unusual brutality failed to have any visible effect upon the humane sentiments of the people of our land. She is depicting a period of time in American history stained with the blood of hundreds of free African American men, women and children. These people were unjustly slaughtered through the practice of lynching within the South. Wells was an investigative journalist and was involved in exploring, reporting, publishing literature on, and eventually campaigning against the
H.G. Wells demonstrates proper use of different literacy techniques throughout The War of the Worlds. The first technique that he uses is descriptive language. Throughout the story, he uses his words to describe characters or his surroundings. One example would be when he states “the turf and gravel about it seemed charred as if by a sudden explosion.” (pp. 11). This statement describes the narrator's surroundings. He also uses descriptive language when describing the Martians, by stating their physical characteristics. A specific example would include when the narrator is describing the Martian's behavior in Chapter Two of the second book. Also, Wells also uses foreshadowing as a technique. At the end of Chapter Five in Book One, the Martians
I chose the book and film, The War of the Worlds. There are many similarities and differences between these two works. A large difference between the book and movie is that the book takes place in England, while the movie takes place in the United States. The time periods are also much different, the book takes place in the late 20th century while the movie takes place in early 21st century. Another notable distinction is the change of the protagonist from a married, middle-class man without kids to a divorced working-class father of two children. The social setting plays a significant role in the plot. The main character's wife left him for a more wealthy and prosperous man. Her parents in Boston never liked him because he wasn't very successful
In Ronald A. Wells History Through the Eyes of Faith, we see Wells compare and contrast the Greek and the often brushed over Hebrew societies. This analysis goes through the many different points of the two very different cultures opening the eyes of the reader as to how and why they were different. Also, with this kind of analysis it would not be beneficial unless the conclusions are accurate, which is why in the case of Wells study of Greek and Hebrew culture, it is beneficial.
In contrast, the author uses George as a metaphor for those who would fight, kill, and die in the war; this element is an important part of the author’s persuasive strategy. W.D. Howells wants to appeal to the values and the emotional sensibility of his audience, for this reason, Howells portrays George as passive and unsure of himself. George is fearful of the war and he sees no glory in it. He believes that God is peaceful and the idea that God would advocate for war runs counter to George’s belief in peace. In short, the author uses George’s story to illustrate the consequences of war for the reader. This strategy works to persuade a resistant audience to relate to George, hence, lowering their resistance to the anti-war message of this piece.
Ida B. Wells was a woman dedicated to a cause, a cause to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from being murdered by lynching. Lynching is defined as to take the law into its own hands and kill someone in punishment for a crime or a presumed crime. Ida B. Wells’ back round made her a logical spokesperson against lynching. She drew on many experiences throughout her life to aid in her crusade. Her position as a black woman, however, affected her credibility both in and out of America in a few different ways.
The Wars, written by Timothy Findley, is a story about World War I, and consists of many shocking images passed over to the reader. Findley accomplishes to pull the reader into the narrative itself, so that the reader manages to feel an impact upon him/her-self about what is read. If it was not for this specific skill, or can also be seen as a specific genre, the novel would not have been as successful as it is now. Also, something that helps the book be so triumphant, there is the fact that Findley never overwhelms the reader with too many gruesome details about the World War I. Instead, he breaks the book down to help the reader calm down from everything that is happening. Throughout the essay, there is going to be some commenting on a
The author writes of many different human beings, showing that each one thinks war is ultimately, the worst thing. While in the war, Billy is in the hospital during his imprisonment by the Germans. There is an old general there who was a teacher before joining in the war efforts. One day, in a conversation with Billy and another older man in the hospital, the general starts to talk about what he thinks of the war. He says, "You know-- we’ve had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves. We had forgotten that wars were fought by babies. When I saw those freshly shaved faces, it was a shock. "‘My God, my God----’ I said to myself, ‘It’s the Children’s Crusade’" (p. 106). This general feels that war is nothing but babies being murdered by one another. He is disturbed by the thought of war and the fact that so many young people are dying for its cause.
Throughout human existence war has been a glorified way of settling disputes and asserting dominance, a place where powerful men have proven themselves, a place where glory and honor were achieved and a place where noble heroes died. Continuously through history humans looked past the horrors of war and misleadingly saw it as a glorious manner. This glorious view on war went unchallenged for centuries when finally the general William Tecumseh Sherman spoke out about the horrors of war and famously quoted that “war is hell”. In All Quiet On The Western Front William Tecumseh Sherman’s words can been seen in Remarque’s portrayal of the First World War by making display of the close similarities that war and hell have. Remarque exposes how truly horrendous the conditions at the front were displaying similarities between the conditions at war and to conditions described of hell. Remarque shows how the weapons used in the war turned man into ashes and countrysides into dead zones creating a real hell like environment. Lastly Remarque manifests that the horrors that war brought were so deep that the suffering would become eternal just as the suffering of hell. Therefore in the novel All Quiet On The Western Front Remarque brings life to William Tecumseh Sherman's famous quote “War is hell” by exposing how alike war and hell are by virtue of their similarities: How the conditions at the front were so horrendous they resembled conditions of hell; How new warfare technology turned
In World War One, the war was fought in two places, in France and in England. England was never physically in the war, but France truly saw the actions. The citizens of England put their best foot forward when it came to contributing to war. The truth was that there was a great divide between the two fronts. The war front, fields bloodied and smear with greasy mud. The home front, standing tall with pride, patriotism, and power. In the book, Not so Quiet…. written by Helen Smith, who have experienced the cruel harsh reality of the war, she describes the ugly side of the war and how everyone view the war. When the war started in 1914, there was need for manpower on the front line, men and women step up to take on roles, Helen was among a group of other girls that contributed on taking on the role of taking care of the wounded and the deceased.
In the words of Otto Von Bismarck, “Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.” Many of the preceding war novels to All Quiet on the Western Front, misrepresented or overlooked the anguish of war, in favor of more resplendent ideals such as glory, honor, or nationalism. The predominant issue of All Quiet on the Western Front is the terrible atrocities of war. The reality that is portrayed in the novel is that there was no glory or honor in this war, only a fierce barbarity that actually transformed the nature of human existence into irreparable, endless affliction, destroying the soldiers long before their deaths.
In 1837, the start of the Victorian era, Britain began experiencing massive changes in the culture of the nation and in the industrial sector. Cultural works began to move away from rationalism, and became more romanticized and more influenced by mysticism. Privacy became a hallmark of British life as well; the outer walls of citizens’ homes were transformed into a façade by which innumerable mysteries resided behind. This romanticized idea of mystery that seemed to lurk behind the doors of the common, everyday man became a prevalent theme in the works of many writers and artists throughout the time period. Robert Louis Stevenson uses this theme of not knowing the true nature of an individual, as well as the idea of duality, to develop his theme that an evil side lies within every man and that balancing both sides is vital to preservation of ones sanity.
The historical context of the book is post World War I, and the influence of the war can be felt in the many battles that happen throughout the story, with good trying to defeat evil.
“So prying and insidious were the fingers of the European War” suggests the all encompassing nature of the war. No matter how much people might think that they are sheltered, no aspects have been left untouched. Once the war starts even something as personal as the “geranium bed” is destroyed, nothing is spared. The most private as well as public spaces are intruded, damaged and scarred by the war. War affected not just soldiers but also civilians like the ‘cook’, Lady Bexborough and Miss Kilman. Miss Kilman had to struggle to