lizzybennet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lizzybennet) wrote2007-10-26 03:55 pm
lizzybennet) wrote2007-10-26 03:55 pm
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Here's my War of the Worlds paper. I am trying to stop using passive voice (haha, that was on purpose)
Please feel free to critque...
Empires and Evolution: Alienation through The War of the Worlds
Aldous Huxley, an English science fiction author, wrote “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted,” (Huxley). It is this “infinite capacity” that handicaps us, as humans. We see the world as we choose to see it. We take for granted that the world is the way we imagine it to be. Social drama, as advocated by Bertholt Brecht, should cause audiences to step out of their comfortable world, lift the veil of “taking things for granted” off their eyes, and allow them to see the truth of reality. Science Fiction authors often use the tool of alienation to help readers step out of their lives and into the strange and sometimes uncomfortable world of truth. In The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells masterfully evoked alienation in his readers by employing a Martian invasion to explore the process of natural selection as well as the insensibility of ruthless expansionism. Through the use of plot, themes and characters, Wells forced his readers to contemplate the world they inhabited and open their eyes to the harsh reality of empire building.
At the height of its power, the British Empire ruled nearly a quarter of the world’s population, as well as encompassed a quarter of the world’s land. The Empire controlled colonies spread all over the world, and held no reservations in quashing local resistance in order to obtain a new territory for itself. The expansion of an empire is brutal business, but this violence was due to more than just the need or desire to acquire new land. During the build-up of the British Empire, it was “generally believed that the existence of racial divisions and hierarchies was proved by science.” (Howe 87) British conquerors were convinced it was their duty as a more enlightened and technologically advanced society to absorb the lands of less intelligent humans. European explorers and conquerors were simply acting in the best interest of humanity and assisting those who were incapable of assisting themselves (Howe 87). However the expansion of the British Empire was not a mission of peace and benevolence. It was fraught with bloodshed, just as the Martian invasion in War of the Worlds.
It is important to note that the British and Martian invaders had different motives for their expansionism. The Martians in The War of the Worlds had depleted the resources of Mars and sought a new home out of necessity. Mars no longer was able to support the Martian civilization. As the narrator explains, “To carry warfare sunward is, indeed, their only escape from the destruction that, generation after generation, creeps upon them.” (Wells, 5) The British Empire, in comparison, expanded its land holdings for more complicated reasons, such as the desire for power or glory and the justification of missionary work. Despite the fact that the Martians required a new home, and were not simply seeking greater glory or land holdings, the effect of their invasion on Earth was the same as British settlers colonizing the Australia or America. The narrator in War of the Worlds also makes a point of this fact before he begins his tale of the Martian invasion.
“And before we judge them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races. The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit? (Wells, 5)
Thus Wells began War of the Worlds by reminding readers that the Martians actions are not so different from their own. Before judging the Martians, he challenged his audience to take a closer look at their own nation’s actions. Readers immediately begin to feel alienation as they compare events in the world they inhabit with the literary world created by Wells.
Wells continued to evoke feelings of alienation in his readers by introducing them into a completely familiar and comfortable world, a world suddenly and viciously attacked by Martians. War of the Worlds takes place in small towns scattered across Great Britain. The towns employed by Wells in War of the Worlds actually existed, and were well known to many of the novel’s readers. This familiarity invites readers to initially feel at ease with the novel, as well as envision more easily the events taking place. Not only were the towns familiar, but in describing his home, the narrator further induced a feeling of normalcy. The narrator also described people he saw in town or at the sand pit, several of them neighbors or acquaintances of his: “Among these [looking at the crashed cylinder] were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employed sometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy…”(Wells 14). The narrator was among friends and life was “normal”. The narrator’s life could pass for virtually anyone’s life. The Martian invaders suddenly shattered this familiar world and readers find themselves confronted with the story of a more intelligent and technologically advanced enemy set upon destroying the human race. Great Britain was thrust into confusion and turmoil as the Martians systematically invaded and destroyed the countryside.
The confusion caused by the Martian attack is easily paralleled with the chaos wreaked by British Imperialism. The Martians had weapons far superior to anything possessed by the British. Their heat rays and poisonous gas proved highly effective tools for destroying the human population. Likewise, when the British invaded a primitive people, their repeating rifles, cannons, machine guns and steam ships (Howe 94) were exponentially more powerful than the natives’ handcrafted spears. In War of the Worlds a group of scientist attempted to approach the Martian cylinder with a white flag as a sign of peace. These scientists were the first victims of the heat ray, which soon swept over the on-looking crowd. It quickly became apparent that the Martians had no interest in communicating with the “natives” of earth.
Upon its imperial march across the earth, Great Britain gave little thought to the needs or interests of the natives of the lands they were conquering. In fact, just as the Martians seemed to make it a sport of hunting humans, so did British conquerors. W.A. Jarvis, a soldier-settler in what is now Zimbabwe wrote: “Our plan of campaign will probably be to proceed against this lot and wipe them out, then move towards Bulawayo wiping out every nigger and every kraal we can find.” (Howe 97) The indifference towards “lower” forms of life exhibited by Jarvis was mirrored in the Martians actions.
The readers of The War of the Worlds never gain direct insight into the characterization of the Martians. Because Wells tells his tale almost wholly from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, readers are not given the extra advantage of the Martian point of view. What we learn of the Martians, we learn from the observations and extrapolations of the narrator. Wells’ excellent use of this point of view works well with his theme of imperialism. Natives who had no means of communication with a conquering people could only surmise what the British were doing, and what they desired. The narrator pondered the question of just how much the Martians understood about humans as well: “Did they grasp that we in our millions were organized, disciplined, working together? Or did they interpret our spurts of fire, the sudden stinging of our shells, our steady investment of their encampment, as we should the furious unanimity of onslaught in a disturbed hive of bees?” (Wells 92) The impossibility of communication between the two species serves to further alienate readers. We, as humans, pride ourselves on being able to communicate well with other intelligent species. We have taught dolphins, chimpanzees and gorillas to communicate with us. To imagine that a higher, more evolved life form would refuse to attempt to speak with us is an affront to the intelligence we believe we have.
Yet, if the Martians did indeed believe that they were a higher life form than human beings, such as humans compared to bees, perhaps they believed there was no point in attempts at communication. Perhaps they viewed the destruction of the human race as inevitable, an unfortunate but unavoidable side effect of the Martian colonization of earth. British colonists were also of this mindset. Historian Stephen Howe has stated:
“Many European thinkers believed that these (native peoples of the Americas, and south Pacific) were not only at the lowest level of primitivism, but were inevitably doomed to extinction. It was not, most such thinkers protested, that they wanted this to happen. It was simply a law of nature that when higher groups came into contact with lower ones, the latter would gradually disappear from the earth, just as animal species did when they could not adapt to changing environments.”
(Howe 86-87)
The Martians were simply following the laws of natural selection, which dictate that the powerful overtake the weak.
The theme of natural selection runs heavily throughout The War of the Worlds. The Martians have evolved to a point which, the narrator speculates, human beings may some day reach. Martians had developed into giant heads that communicated via telepathy. They had no legs and arms, but instead had sixteen tentacles around their mouth, which served as hands. Martians had developed machines to assist them with any task they might need to complete, and they wore these machines as humans wear clothing. Their digestive system had been done away with by evolution and they no longer needed to eat. In order to get nutrients, Martians simply injected the blood of humans directly into their own veins. They also had no sexual organs and reproduced through budding.
In discussing Martian physiology, the narrator recalls the writings of “a certain speculative writer of quasi-scientific repute” (Wells 136), who is most likely Wells himself. This writer speculated that
“the perfection of mechanical appliances must ultimately supersede limbs; the perfection of chemical devices, digestion; that such organs as hair, external nose, teeth, ears, and chin were no longer essential parts of the human being, and that the tendency of natural selection would lie in the direction of their steady diminution through the conming ages. The brain alone remained as a cardinal necessity.” (Wells 136-137
Certainly the Martians embodied the scientist’s projections. Being a race much older than humanity, Martians had evolved past them in both physical and mental capacities.
H.G. Wells was one of the pioneers of science fiction, perhaps even one of the genres founding fathers. As such, he understood the complexity of the art of science fiction and its usefulness for awaking readers to a realistic view of the world around them. In The War of the Worlds Wells masterfully created feelings of alienation in his readers through exploring the justification for empire building and destroying “lesser” life forms. He also explored the ideas and future outcome of natural selection and evolution. These ideas also gave readers cause to stop and think about the world they lived in.
A modern-day reader may attempt to make the objection that the theme of empire building in War of the Worlds, while educational, in no longer relevant to our society. For the past several decades most of the national borders in the world have remained fixed. The argument could be made that mankind has moved past the era of colonization and empire building; indeed, there are no longer “uncivilized” countries left to discover. Yet governments still have the urge to expand their empire. Empires may not currently be expanded geographically, but it is a certainty that ideological empires are being built upon every day. What would H.G. Wells think of the United States actions in Iraq? We certainly aren’t attempting to gain more land holdings or exert our rights as a more evolved species of humanity. However, we do want to implement an Iraqi administration that follows the American model of government. In this respect, the lessons taught by The War of the Worlds are certainly still relevant to a modern audience.
Please feel free to critque...
Empires and Evolution: Alienation through The War of the Worlds
Aldous Huxley, an English science fiction author, wrote “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted,” (Huxley). It is this “infinite capacity” that handicaps us, as humans. We see the world as we choose to see it. We take for granted that the world is the way we imagine it to be. Social drama, as advocated by Bertholt Brecht, should cause audiences to step out of their comfortable world, lift the veil of “taking things for granted” off their eyes, and allow them to see the truth of reality. Science Fiction authors often use the tool of alienation to help readers step out of their lives and into the strange and sometimes uncomfortable world of truth. In The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells masterfully evoked alienation in his readers by employing a Martian invasion to explore the process of natural selection as well as the insensibility of ruthless expansionism. Through the use of plot, themes and characters, Wells forced his readers to contemplate the world they inhabited and open their eyes to the harsh reality of empire building.
At the height of its power, the British Empire ruled nearly a quarter of the world’s population, as well as encompassed a quarter of the world’s land. The Empire controlled colonies spread all over the world, and held no reservations in quashing local resistance in order to obtain a new territory for itself. The expansion of an empire is brutal business, but this violence was due to more than just the need or desire to acquire new land. During the build-up of the British Empire, it was “generally believed that the existence of racial divisions and hierarchies was proved by science.” (Howe 87) British conquerors were convinced it was their duty as a more enlightened and technologically advanced society to absorb the lands of less intelligent humans. European explorers and conquerors were simply acting in the best interest of humanity and assisting those who were incapable of assisting themselves (Howe 87). However the expansion of the British Empire was not a mission of peace and benevolence. It was fraught with bloodshed, just as the Martian invasion in War of the Worlds.
It is important to note that the British and Martian invaders had different motives for their expansionism. The Martians in The War of the Worlds had depleted the resources of Mars and sought a new home out of necessity. Mars no longer was able to support the Martian civilization. As the narrator explains, “To carry warfare sunward is, indeed, their only escape from the destruction that, generation after generation, creeps upon them.” (Wells, 5) The British Empire, in comparison, expanded its land holdings for more complicated reasons, such as the desire for power or glory and the justification of missionary work. Despite the fact that the Martians required a new home, and were not simply seeking greater glory or land holdings, the effect of their invasion on Earth was the same as British settlers colonizing the Australia or America. The narrator in War of the Worlds also makes a point of this fact before he begins his tale of the Martian invasion.
“And before we judge them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races. The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit? (Wells, 5)
Thus Wells began War of the Worlds by reminding readers that the Martians actions are not so different from their own. Before judging the Martians, he challenged his audience to take a closer look at their own nation’s actions. Readers immediately begin to feel alienation as they compare events in the world they inhabit with the literary world created by Wells.
Wells continued to evoke feelings of alienation in his readers by introducing them into a completely familiar and comfortable world, a world suddenly and viciously attacked by Martians. War of the Worlds takes place in small towns scattered across Great Britain. The towns employed by Wells in War of the Worlds actually existed, and were well known to many of the novel’s readers. This familiarity invites readers to initially feel at ease with the novel, as well as envision more easily the events taking place. Not only were the towns familiar, but in describing his home, the narrator further induced a feeling of normalcy. The narrator also described people he saw in town or at the sand pit, several of them neighbors or acquaintances of his: “Among these [looking at the crashed cylinder] were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employed sometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy…”(Wells 14). The narrator was among friends and life was “normal”. The narrator’s life could pass for virtually anyone’s life. The Martian invaders suddenly shattered this familiar world and readers find themselves confronted with the story of a more intelligent and technologically advanced enemy set upon destroying the human race. Great Britain was thrust into confusion and turmoil as the Martians systematically invaded and destroyed the countryside.
The confusion caused by the Martian attack is easily paralleled with the chaos wreaked by British Imperialism. The Martians had weapons far superior to anything possessed by the British. Their heat rays and poisonous gas proved highly effective tools for destroying the human population. Likewise, when the British invaded a primitive people, their repeating rifles, cannons, machine guns and steam ships (Howe 94) were exponentially more powerful than the natives’ handcrafted spears. In War of the Worlds a group of scientist attempted to approach the Martian cylinder with a white flag as a sign of peace. These scientists were the first victims of the heat ray, which soon swept over the on-looking crowd. It quickly became apparent that the Martians had no interest in communicating with the “natives” of earth.
Upon its imperial march across the earth, Great Britain gave little thought to the needs or interests of the natives of the lands they were conquering. In fact, just as the Martians seemed to make it a sport of hunting humans, so did British conquerors. W.A. Jarvis, a soldier-settler in what is now Zimbabwe wrote: “Our plan of campaign will probably be to proceed against this lot and wipe them out, then move towards Bulawayo wiping out every nigger and every kraal we can find.” (Howe 97) The indifference towards “lower” forms of life exhibited by Jarvis was mirrored in the Martians actions.
The readers of The War of the Worlds never gain direct insight into the characterization of the Martians. Because Wells tells his tale almost wholly from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, readers are not given the extra advantage of the Martian point of view. What we learn of the Martians, we learn from the observations and extrapolations of the narrator. Wells’ excellent use of this point of view works well with his theme of imperialism. Natives who had no means of communication with a conquering people could only surmise what the British were doing, and what they desired. The narrator pondered the question of just how much the Martians understood about humans as well: “Did they grasp that we in our millions were organized, disciplined, working together? Or did they interpret our spurts of fire, the sudden stinging of our shells, our steady investment of their encampment, as we should the furious unanimity of onslaught in a disturbed hive of bees?” (Wells 92) The impossibility of communication between the two species serves to further alienate readers. We, as humans, pride ourselves on being able to communicate well with other intelligent species. We have taught dolphins, chimpanzees and gorillas to communicate with us. To imagine that a higher, more evolved life form would refuse to attempt to speak with us is an affront to the intelligence we believe we have.
Yet, if the Martians did indeed believe that they were a higher life form than human beings, such as humans compared to bees, perhaps they believed there was no point in attempts at communication. Perhaps they viewed the destruction of the human race as inevitable, an unfortunate but unavoidable side effect of the Martian colonization of earth. British colonists were also of this mindset. Historian Stephen Howe has stated:
“Many European thinkers believed that these (native peoples of the Americas, and south Pacific) were not only at the lowest level of primitivism, but were inevitably doomed to extinction. It was not, most such thinkers protested, that they wanted this to happen. It was simply a law of nature that when higher groups came into contact with lower ones, the latter would gradually disappear from the earth, just as animal species did when they could not adapt to changing environments.”
(Howe 86-87)
The Martians were simply following the laws of natural selection, which dictate that the powerful overtake the weak.
The theme of natural selection runs heavily throughout The War of the Worlds. The Martians have evolved to a point which, the narrator speculates, human beings may some day reach. Martians had developed into giant heads that communicated via telepathy. They had no legs and arms, but instead had sixteen tentacles around their mouth, which served as hands. Martians had developed machines to assist them with any task they might need to complete, and they wore these machines as humans wear clothing. Their digestive system had been done away with by evolution and they no longer needed to eat. In order to get nutrients, Martians simply injected the blood of humans directly into their own veins. They also had no sexual organs and reproduced through budding.
In discussing Martian physiology, the narrator recalls the writings of “a certain speculative writer of quasi-scientific repute” (Wells 136), who is most likely Wells himself. This writer speculated that
“the perfection of mechanical appliances must ultimately supersede limbs; the perfection of chemical devices, digestion; that such organs as hair, external nose, teeth, ears, and chin were no longer essential parts of the human being, and that the tendency of natural selection would lie in the direction of their steady diminution through the conming ages. The brain alone remained as a cardinal necessity.” (Wells 136-137
Certainly the Martians embodied the scientist’s projections. Being a race much older than humanity, Martians had evolved past them in both physical and mental capacities.
H.G. Wells was one of the pioneers of science fiction, perhaps even one of the genres founding fathers. As such, he understood the complexity of the art of science fiction and its usefulness for awaking readers to a realistic view of the world around them. In The War of the Worlds Wells masterfully created feelings of alienation in his readers through exploring the justification for empire building and destroying “lesser” life forms. He also explored the ideas and future outcome of natural selection and evolution. These ideas also gave readers cause to stop and think about the world they lived in.
A modern-day reader may attempt to make the objection that the theme of empire building in War of the Worlds, while educational, in no longer relevant to our society. For the past several decades most of the national borders in the world have remained fixed. The argument could be made that mankind has moved past the era of colonization and empire building; indeed, there are no longer “uncivilized” countries left to discover. Yet governments still have the urge to expand their empire. Empires may not currently be expanded geographically, but it is a certainty that ideological empires are being built upon every day. What would H.G. Wells think of the United States actions in Iraq? We certainly aren’t attempting to gain more land holdings or exert our rights as a more evolved species of humanity. However, we do want to implement an Iraqi administration that follows the American model of government. In this respect, the lessons taught by The War of the Worlds are certainly still relevant to a modern audience.
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Wow, great paper. Lots to consider.
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