Dec 30, 2009

The War of the Worlds | Themes and Characters

The War of the Worlds reflects some of Wells's social concerns, although it is not as heavily laden with social commentary as The Time Machine. The Martians represent colonialists, while the Europeanstraditionally the colonialists themselvesare the primitives confronting invaders who possess a bewilderingly superior technology. Confusion, fear, panic, and bravado are the typical reaction of the English to the invasion. The Martians have "minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts."

The principal theme of The War of the Worlds is...