Dec 25, 2009

The War of the Worlds | Social Concerns

The War of the Worlds is primarily an entertainment, without the overt social commentary of The Time Machine (1895). Even so, it reflects some of Wells's social concerns. As Anthony West points out, the Martians "treat Europeans as Europeans had been treating native populations and animals in the hey-day of colonialism." Instead of being the conquerors, Europeans are the primitives. Confusion, fear, panic, and bravado are the typical reaction of the English to the invasion by a civilization with technology beyond human comprehension. The Martians themselves are "minds that are to our...