preview

H.G. Wells' Novel The War of The Worlds Essay

Better Essays

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

Get Access