War of the Worlds
Written in 1898 by H.G. Wells, the novel War of the Worlds is one of the most critically acclaimed science fiction novels of all time. It takes place in Britain in the 1890’s, and reflects many issues of the culture. Since it was written it has been adapted into several movies, including the 2005 Block Buster hit directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise. This novel reflects many themes about science and technology, however, the most important and prevalent of these themes is the argument between science and religion, a debate that is still relevant today. In this novel, H.G. Wells certainly backs the science side of this debate.
In the novel, H.G. Wells describes a world under siege from Martians. The book begins by describing Mars as an older planet, which has begun the process of cooling down. This drop in temperature freezes the oceans and makes the planet completely uninhabitable. As a result, the Martians are forced to find a new planet to live on. With Earth being the closest inhabitable planet, the choice is easy. The Martians load themselves into huge canisters and lift off for Earth. On Earth, the British astronomer Ogilvy has been studying the planet Mars. When he sees something resembling a shooting star come off the planet he is naturally very curious, and so he sets off to find the “meteorite”. Bringing a large crowd with him, he finds the crater created by the canister. While jostling for position at the edge of the crater, a shopkeeper loses his balance and falls in, bumping up against the canister, which opens, revealing the Martians. The Martians appear much like octopi, with heads and many tentacles, but no bodies. Then, without warning, a huge mechanical tripod rises out of the crater, firing a “Heat Ray” which instantly vaporizes forty on lookers. The unnamed narrator of the story, who has been watching all of this unfold, flees the scene, running home to his wife, where he manages to convince himself that the Martians are not a real threat. Later that night, an artilleryman appears outside the narrator’s house. He tells of how his entire artillery unit had been killed by the Martians. The narrator and the artilleryman decide to flee the town together, although they separate soon after fleeing. The narrator then meets the curate, a distraught clergyman who’s church has recently been destroyed. He is so emotionally disturbed that he can hardly control himself, and often has outbursts, in which he claims to be a guilty sinner.
At this point the book shifts from the story of the narrator to the narrator’s brother, who is living in London. When the Martians make their way to London, a large portion of the population decides to flee, including the narrator’s brother. This results in a panicked mass exodus of the city, with people moving as a crowd away from the city. One man is carrying a large bag of coins, which breaks open, spilling his money all over the ground. As the man bends down to pick up his coins, he is nearly trampled, and the narrator’s brother is forced to pull him out of the crowd to save his life.
Meanwhile, the narrator find himself, along with the curate, in an abandoned house on the edge of one of the craters created by the canisters. The narrator and the curate try desperately to avoid being discovered, however, the hysterical curate is unable to control his emotions, and begins to yell and scream. The narrator knocks him unconscious with the butt end of a meat clever, but it is too late. A robotic arm snakes into the house and drags the curate’s body out. The narrator manages to hide himself in the basement, where he remains for five days. When he does emerge, he decides to travel to London. When he finally reaches the city, he finds a pile of dead Martians, who had succumb to Earthly bacteria, which humans had been immune to for thousands of years. The narrator returns home and life begins to go back to normal.
One of the most important example of the debate between religion and science is the juxtaposition that H.G. Wells presents between St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and Crystal Palace, the site of the first World Fair. The narrator passes both these sites on his way to London, and finds them in very different states. When he passes by St. Paul’s Cathedral, he finds it completely razed, with only a pile of rubble remaining. The Crystal Palace, however, appears completely untouched and as immaculate as ever. The comparison between these two sites serves as a symbol for the state of religion, as opposed to that of science. The cathedral, for obvious reasons, represents religion in shambles, whereas the Crystal Palace, home of the first World Fair, which was essentially a exhibition of the greatest technological advances from every country on the earth at the time, represents science as perfect and untouchable.
The second example of the debate between religion and science that H.G. Wells illustrates in the novel is the comparison between the curate and the artilleryman. The curate, as a clergyman, represents the religious side of the debate, and the artilleryman, with his military mind for sound logic and reasoning, represents the scientific side. As we se throughout the book, the curate is good for little more than losing control of his emotions and crying out in guilt that he has sinned, a habit that eventually brings about his untimely end. Through the curate, H.G. Wells represents religion as a useless philosophy with no practical purpose.
The artilleryman, however, shows a very logical mind. When he and the narrator set out to flee the town in which the original canister landed, he insists they bring provisions and have an immediate plan. Without this thinking, the narrator would not have made it out of the town. The artilleryman represents the scientific mind as practical and malleable, allowing the artilleryman to survive the Martian attack.
However, later in the story, H.G. Wells throws a monkey wrench into this perfect comparison between the curate and the artilleryman. On the narrator’s trip to London, he bumps into the artilleryman, having separated from him after leaving town. The narrator finds the artilleryman to be much different from when he first met him. He drinks excessively, spends his days playing card games and making extremely grand and elaborate plans for the future, although never making any effort to execute them. This twist in the artilleryman’s character shows a different side of the scientific mind. H.G. Wells uses the artilleryman to show that, while religion is inherently flawed, and science serves as a better method to answer our questions about the world, perhaps science is not as perfect as we think.
These two comparisons between science and religion show us the perspective of H.G. Wells on this great debate. He clearly stands behind the scientific method, and shows no support for religion, asserting that religion is baseless and emotional, using guilt to control its followers, while science can thrive in any environment simply because it is based on facts and logical thinking. However, he does imply, through the metamorphosis of the artilleryman, that science is not perfect, and cannot leads to all the answers we seek. While the debate between religion and science will likely never be resolved, H.G. Wells does provide us with an interesting point of view on the subject.
