The War of the Worlds
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What's the real meaning behind this book?
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It is a pretty straightforward book that can be taken at face value; I don't think you will have trouble with it.
Jon wrote: "...and US Army fights an uphill battle..."Slight correction: the novel takes place in England, so the army fighting the Martians was the British army.
On topic: there are some themes in the book that you can find with some deeper digging. For example, Wells was a socialist, and there is a hint that the Martians were here to exploit the humans (for food... there is a particularly gruesome scene where a Martian drinks a human's blood) and their resources for their own gain.
However, as Scott said, the book stands quite nicely on its own merits in terms of its story.
My mistake. I was in junior high when I read it.
Colonialism. Imperialism. 1898. Victorian England. Zulus. Khartoum. Locomotives and mud huts. :}
Also read The Space Machine by Chris Priest. He does a great job of attempting to fill in some of the blanks regarding the Martians.
Prior to the publication of The War Of The Worlds, there had been other novels of an alarmist kind, warning the people of the Britsh Isles of the threat of invation (in most stories from Imperial Germany, but also from France(!)). Against this picture, Wells broadens the canvas; the threat against all Mankind, as opposed to the mere squabble between nations, thus showing the insignificance of humans on an Universal scale. Altough the book ends up-note, I've always perceived it as a deeply misantropic novel.
As far as I could make out, it was meant to be a savage criticism of British imperialist adventures abroad, and trying to show that what the Martians do, is actually relatively no different in tactics to what the empire had done around the world, and to try and flip it on its head and show what it would be like to be a Boer, or a Tasmanian Aborigine, or whatever group had been on the receiving end of British imperialism. The anti-imperialist theme is think is also apparent in the way humanity is shown, in that some of the people, who in other regards would have probably been pontificating about how superior they were because they were white, or male, or Christian, or upper class, are brushed away out of existence like they were nothing, thereby showing that in the end, being white, or Christian, or upper class or male, means nothing, as you are just as dispensable as a human being as any supposed "low-brow commoner".
And as Karl says, the book is pretty misanthropic from start to finish, as humanity get's its arse kicked royally by the Martians, and in the end only a product of nature, the virus, was able to defeat them, and not us. We were doomed and useless throughout, and without the virus the Martians would have gone on to wipe us all out.
H G Wells discusses chemical attacks before ANYONE. Historical fact. H G Wells used to cycle in the areas he mentions. Historical fact. Richmond Hill he knew well and also Shepperton. So, when he is describing things like villages and towns etc. it is as he saw them. Not many people take on-board that the narrator is a killer. Bacterial warfare is something new at the time and that is because like Darwin he studied under Huxley (albeit for a year.) So much you can do with this book. I would start by reading it. You might also consider forensic linguistics. What words does Wells repeat throughout the novel?
Sam wrote: "H G Wells discusses chemical attacks before ANYONE. Historical fact..."Not quite. In 1871, William Rhodes wrote The Case of Summerfield, in which a villain tries to blackmail the world with a chemical that would turn the world's water into fire. Not exactly a chemical attack, but Robert Potter's The Germ Growers, written in 1892, talks about aliens who come to Earth and develop a super-virus to use as a weapon against humanity.
Karl wrote: "Prior to the publication of The War Of The Worlds, there had been other novels of an alarmist kind, warning the people of the Britsh Isles of the threat of invation (in most stories from Imperial G..."I agree, Karl. I was struck with how similar the novel feels to a story like Night or the film The Pianist. Sadly, the aliens in the story were less inhumane than the Nazis.
Karl wrote: "Prior to the publication of The War Of The Worlds, there had been other novels of an alarmist kind, warning the people of the Britsh Isles of the threat of invation (in most stories from Imperial Germany, but also from France(!))..."Somewhat off topic you shouldn't be surprised by the France being considered a possible invader of Britain at that time. One of the remarkable things about the first world war is that Britain was allied with France against Germany and not the other way around. Historically Germany and Britain had been allied against France, I think Britain has probably spent more time at war with France than allied with them.
Back on topic, I would agree with others who have also said that the most likely subtext was anti imperialism and colonialism.
This book is in many way a prediction of the First World War. Wells very much invented the popular ideas of mechanized and chemical warfare.
It seems a straightforward topic but since Wells is a socialist I think the book somehow shows his views on how devastating it is to a technologically simple civilization to be conquered and ruled by an advanced society ( like the British colonialism).
or it could be about world war one since there is the use of chemicals in warfare..
Wells wrote War of the Worlds as a social commentary on the British Empire and how it invaded weaker countries and colonized them. The Martians took the place of the Empire and Britain became the conquered country. The fact Britain, one of the most powerful countries at the time, could not beat the invaders but was saved by humble microbes, was Wells way of saying Britain was actually weak.
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To actually get started, I would try reading the book first. It's really pretty good. Aliens from Mars attack Earth to gain her water resources and US Army fights an uphill battle against a technologically greater foe.
What exactly don't you understand? If you are having trouble with English, this book is considered a science fiction classic, and there are many translations that may help.