The War of the Worlds Part 11

6 (p. 156) (p. 156) We have sinned, we have fallen short: We have sinned, we have fallen short: The curate drifts into madness, confessing his (and perhaps the entire clergy's) abandonment of the poor. Again, he sees the Martian invasion as a divine judgment pa.s.sed on humanity, and for that reason he combines self-criticism with references to the Bible's Book of Revelation and the end of the world. But Wells, the G.o.d of the text, the author of this calamity, sees the Martian invasion as an opportunity for humanity to realize its collective ident.i.ty and to unite in a world political, economic, and social organization. In short, he wants humans to be Martians, even if he never explains what the nature of Martian society might be. The curate drifts into madness, confessing his (and perhaps the entire clergy's) abandonment of the poor. Again, he sees the Martian invasion as a divine judgment pa.s.sed on humanity, and for that reason he combines self-criticism with references to the Bible's Book of Revelation and the end of the world. But Wells, the G.o.d of the text, the author of this calamity, sees the Martian invasion as an opportunity for humanity to realize its collective ident.i.ty and to unite in a world political, economic, and social organization. In short, he wants humans to be Martians, even if he never explains what the nature of Martian society might be.

7 (p. 173) (p. 173) It isn't quite according to what a man wants for his species, but it's about what the facts point to: It isn't quite according to what a man wants for his species, but it's about what the facts point to: The artilleryman enunciates one of Wells's favorite principles of social evolution-namely, that utopias are mere words, while reality is composed of objective facts. Either humans will adapt to the new reality, or they will become cattle for the Martians. A manic survivalist, the artilleryman goes on to elaborate a plan (pp. 176-177) for an underground society whose entire purpose is, as he says, to "save the race." However, like the narrator, the artilleryman is not a leader. He is flawed and will eventually succ.u.mb to his own vices, especially alcohol. Even so, Wells intends for the artilleryman's ideas to raise the consciousness of the reader. The artilleryman enunciates one of Wells's favorite principles of social evolution-namely, that utopias are mere words, while reality is composed of objective facts. Either humans will adapt to the new reality, or they will become cattle for the Martians. A manic survivalist, the artilleryman goes on to elaborate a plan (pp. 176-177) for an underground society whose entire purpose is, as he says, to "save the race." However, like the narrator, the artilleryman is not a leader. He is flawed and will eventually succ.u.mb to his own vices, especially alcohol. Even so, Wells intends for the artilleryman's ideas to raise the consciousness of the reader.

8 (p. 176) (p. 176) I, a professed and recognized writer... and he, a common soldier: I, a professed and recognized writer... and he, a common soldier: Wells puts his pragmatic social Darwinism into practice here. The artilleryman formulates a program as a reaction to reality; the philosophic narrator thinks in terms of tradition. Wells puts his pragmatic social Darwinism into practice here. The artilleryman formulates a program as a reaction to reality; the philosophic narrator thinks in terms of tradition.

9 (p. 201) (p. 201) this invasion from Mars is not without its ultimate benefit for men: this invasion from Mars is not without its ultimate benefit for men: Wells returns to his social message, especially "the conception of the commonweal of mankind." A sacrifice was made in terms of life and property, but a greater good may come of it: a world government. Wells returns to his social message, especially "the conception of the commonweal of mankind." A sacrifice was made in terms of life and property, but a greater good may come of it: a world government.

10 (p. 201) (p. 201) slow cooling of the sun makes this earth uninhabitable: slow cooling of the sun makes this earth uninhabitable: Wells expresses here the entropy theory-that the sun, like any dynamic system, must inevitably lose energy and die. This idea is also present in Wells expresses here the entropy theory-that the sun, like any dynamic system, must inevitably lose energy and die. This idea is also present in The Time Machine The Time Machine (1895); see note 4 for book one. (1895); see note 4 for book one.

Inspired by The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a grave announcement to make. Incredible as it may seem, ... those strange beings who landed in the Jersey farmlands tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from the planet Mars."

-Orson Welles, from his radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds

H. G. Wells's pioneering science fiction novel The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds has inspired films, a television series, a rock opera, comic books, sequels, parodies, and scores of imitations. By far the best-known adaptation is the one Orson Welles produced for radio in 1938. has inspired films, a television series, a rock opera, comic books, sequels, parodies, and scores of imitations. By far the best-known adaptation is the one Orson Welles produced for radio in 1938.

Before he turned twenty, Welles already had a reputation as a talented actor. In the 1930s, as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's second New Deal program, the Works Progress Administration launched the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Writer/director John Houseman was tapped to head its Negro Theatre Unit; he in turn asked Welles to direct a play for him-a version of Macbeth Macbeth with an all-black cast set in nineteenth-century Haiti. Their success in this and other FTP productions prompted Welles and Houseman to found Mercury Theatre in 1937; through it they staged more innovative productions, like a modern-dress version of Shakespeare's with an all-black cast set in nineteenth-century Haiti. Their success in this and other FTP productions prompted Welles and Houseman to found Mercury Theatre in 1937; through it they staged more innovative productions, like a modern-dress version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar, George Bernard Shaw's George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, Heartbreak House, and a leftist opera, and a leftist opera, The Cradle Will Rock. The Cradle Will Rock. A year later they took Mercury Theatre to the airwaves, and on October 30,1938-forty years after the publication of H. G. Wells's slim novel of cataclysm-they made history with a daring adaptation of A year later they took Mercury Theatre to the airwaves, and on October 30,1938-forty years after the publication of H. G. Wells's slim novel of cataclysm-they made history with a daring adaptation of The War of the Worlds. The War of the Worlds.

Welles directed the broadcast, Houseman was the producer, and Howard Koch wrote the screenplay. To make Wells's text more relevant to American listeners, Koch switched the setting of the interplanetary battle from London to rural New Jersey (the landing site was the sleepy hamlet of Grover's Mill), and from there the Martians went on to attack New York City. Mercury Theatre of the Air's The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds aired during the golden age of radio, the era of Roosevelt's "fireside chats," when the radio was the American public's most intimate source of news. Contemporary coverage included the threat of n.a.z.i expansionism throughout Europe, the Hindenburg disaster, and terrifying accounts of British schoolchildren donning gas masks in war drills. Such news reports haunted the minds of Americans, and Welles and his colleagues deliberately studied them, distilling a formula for terror. aired during the golden age of radio, the era of Roosevelt's "fireside chats," when the radio was the American public's most intimate source of news. Contemporary coverage included the threat of n.a.z.i expansionism throughout Europe, the Hindenburg disaster, and terrifying accounts of British schoolchildren donning gas masks in war drills. Such news reports haunted the minds of Americans, and Welles and his colleagues deliberately studied them, distilling a formula for terror.

In 1938, October 30 fell on a Sunday, when the majority of American radio listeners were tuned in to The Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy Show. The Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy Show. It was this show's custom to take a musical break after twelve minutes of ventriloquism, during which time listeners routinely surfed the radio waves looking for something more lively. Welles's broadcast banked on this likelihood. Although the introduction to the hour clearly announced a production of H. G. It was this show's custom to take a musical break after twelve minutes of ventriloquism, during which time listeners routinely surfed the radio waves looking for something more lively. Welles's broadcast banked on this likelihood. Although the introduction to the hour clearly announced a production of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, Wells's The War of the Worlds, by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre, and it was repeated three times during the broadcast that it was an adaptation of the novel, that information was lost on frightened listeners who in their panic missed the information. by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre, and it was repeated three times during the broadcast that it was an adaptation of the novel, that information was lost on frightened listeners who in their panic missed the information.

Welles's The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds began innocently enough with a government weather report, followed by a shift to the Park Plaza Hotel in New York City, where listeners heard the Ramon Raquello Orchestra. After thirty seconds of music, an announcer broke in with the familiar phrase: "Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this broadcast." The first news flash detailed mysterious explosions on the surface of Mars, theorized to be meteorites, then the "regularly scheduled program" picked up and Raquello's orchestra continued mid-bar. began innocently enough with a government weather report, followed by a shift to the Park Plaza Hotel in New York City, where listeners heard the Ramon Raquello Orchestra. After thirty seconds of music, an announcer broke in with the familiar phrase: "Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this broadcast." The first news flash detailed mysterious explosions on the surface of Mars, theorized to be meteorites, then the "regularly scheduled program" picked up and Raquello's orchestra continued mid-bar.

Welles played several roles, among them Professor Richard Pier-son, the "famous Princeton astronomer," and on-the-scene reporter Carl Phillips. The Phillips monologue clinched it for listeners. While narrating his observations of the landed aircraft and its emerging, tentacled pilot, Philips shakily uttered, "It's indescribable" and "I can't find words," adding a chilling dimension of realism. His report was suddenly cut off after he screamed, "There's a jet of flame! It's coming this way!" A number of other actors partic.i.p.ated in the broadcast as townspeople describing the carnage, scientists making astronomical observations, military men discussing matters of strategy, and the Secretary of the Interior.

Not long into the broadcast, listeners started calling their local police stations seeking advice, and the nation's switchboards soon were jammed. Many hysterical people actually claimed to have seen Martians. One woman in Grover's Mill called the police department, screaming, "You can't imagine the horror of it! It's h.e.l.l!" Despite Mercury Theatre's own announcements and numerous press releases by the a.s.sociated Press during the broadcast, as well as widespread transmissions from police dispatchers identifying the program as fiction, the panic reached epidemic proportions. People crowded the streets of New York, churches overflowed, and highways were clogged with terrified motorists trying to escape the attack.

The following day, the New York Times New York Times headline read: "Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact," with the subt.i.tle "Many Flee Homes to Escape 'Gas Raid From Mars'-Phone Calls Swamp Police at Broadcast of Wells Fantasy." Welles claimed to have had no knowledge of the panic caused by the broadcast, although later reports describe him rushing to finish the show while policemen beat on the door of his studio. CBS executive Taylor Davidson demanded he break into the program to calm the hordes of terrified listeners. Welles's reputed response was, "They're scared? Good! They're supposed to be scared!" But Welles and Houseman were also reported to be "bewildered, frightened, and genuinely remorseful," and Welles's public apology was enough to placate the enraged ma.s.ses: "It was our thought that perhaps people might be bored or annoyed at hearing a tale so improbable." Three years later, at age twenty-six, Welles would write, produce, and direct headline read: "Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact," with the subt.i.tle "Many Flee Homes to Escape 'Gas Raid From Mars'-Phone Calls Swamp Police at Broadcast of Wells Fantasy." Welles claimed to have had no knowledge of the panic caused by the broadcast, although later reports describe him rushing to finish the show while policemen beat on the door of his studio. CBS executive Taylor Davidson demanded he break into the program to calm the hordes of terrified listeners. Welles's reputed response was, "They're scared? Good! They're supposed to be scared!" But Welles and Houseman were also reported to be "bewildered, frightened, and genuinely remorseful," and Welles's public apology was enough to placate the enraged ma.s.ses: "It was our thought that perhaps people might be bored or annoyed at hearing a tale so improbable." Three years later, at age twenty-six, Welles would write, produce, and direct Citizen Kane Citizen Kane (1941), called by many critics the greatest film of the twentieth century. (1941), called by many critics the greatest film of the twentieth century.

The broadcast of The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds sparked an intense censorship debate. A general feeling that "something should be done" caused the Federal Communications Commission to open an investigation. Eventually, a sentiment emerged that the legal system's provisions on behalf of the public interest should be used to impose restrictions on future radio programs. This idea was widely opposed by most on the Commission; one member, T. A. M. Craven, stated that it would make no attempt at "censoring what shall or shall not be said over the radio." sparked an intense censorship debate. A general feeling that "something should be done" caused the Federal Communications Commission to open an investigation. Eventually, a sentiment emerged that the legal system's provisions on behalf of the public interest should be used to impose restrictions on future radio programs. This idea was widely opposed by most on the Commission; one member, T. A. M. Craven, stated that it would make no attempt at "censoring what shall or shall not be said over the radio."

Since 1938 several attempts have been made to recapture the excitement of the original broadcast. In 1975 The Night That Panicked America, The Night That Panicked America, a TV movie dramatizing the story of Welles's broadcast, was nominated for several Emmys. In 1988 National Public Radio staged a fiftieth anniversary production of a TV movie dramatizing the story of Welles's broadcast, was nominated for several Emmys. In 1988 National Public Radio staged a fiftieth anniversary production of The War of the Worlds, The War of the Worlds, which tried to blur the line between fiction and their familiar method of reporting news. Most startling was a February 12, 1949, radio broadcast in Quito, Ecuador, that tried to mimic Welles's prank but ended by causing disaster. Many listeners ran to the mountains to hide from the invaders, while thousands panicked in the streets. When word came that the broadcast was a hoax, rioters stormed the radio station and burned it to the ground, killing twenty people. which tried to blur the line between fiction and their familiar method of reporting news. Most startling was a February 12, 1949, radio broadcast in Quito, Ecuador, that tried to mimic Welles's prank but ended by causing disaster. Many listeners ran to the mountains to hide from the invaders, while thousands panicked in the streets. When word came that the broadcast was a hoax, rioters stormed the radio station and burned it to the ground, killing twenty people.

Comments & Questions In this section, we aim to provide the reader with an array of perspectives on the text, as well as questions that challenge those perspectives. The commentary has been culled from sources as diverse as reviews contemporaneous with the work, letters written by the author, literary criticism of later generations, and appreciations written throughout the work's history. Following the commentary, a series of questions seeks to filter H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds Worlds through a variety of points of view and bring about a richer understanding of this enduring work. through a variety of points of view and bring about a richer understanding of this enduring work.

Comments THE TIMES OF LONDON OF LONDON.

The sorrows caused to England, and especially to a suburban district, by an invasion of mailed beings from Mars (very unlike Mr. du Maurier's "Martian") are the theme of The War of the Worlds. The War of the Worlds. Mr. Wells combines the "Battle of Dorking," in realism, with scientific fantasy. The fantasy is ingenious, nay, exceedingly ingenious, but there is a want of human interest in these gigantic, mail-clad, s.e.xless, telepathic invaders. Suppose yourself at home with them, in Mars, and you will not find them good company. We might live a more interesting life with Victor Hugo's Mr. Wells combines the "Battle of Dorking," in realism, with scientific fantasy. The fantasy is ingenious, nay, exceedingly ingenious, but there is a want of human interest in these gigantic, mail-clad, s.e.xless, telepathic invaders. Suppose yourself at home with them, in Mars, and you will not find them good company. We might live a more interesting life with Victor Hugo's pieuvre, pieuvre, comparatively a domestic animal. It is unnecessary, and, indeed, within the limits of s.p.a.ce, impossible to give an idea of Martians as understood by Mr. Wells, but a very large, round, ruthless cuttlefish, with a genius for scientific inventions and applied mechanics, comes, perhaps, as near a Martian as a brief phrase will allow. Their ravages permit free contrast of the commonplace with the gruesome, and of these contrasts the book is made. comparatively a domestic animal. It is unnecessary, and, indeed, within the limits of s.p.a.ce, impossible to give an idea of Martians as understood by Mr. Wells, but a very large, round, ruthless cuttlefish, with a genius for scientific inventions and applied mechanics, comes, perhaps, as near a Martian as a brief phrase will allow. Their ravages permit free contrast of the commonplace with the gruesome, and of these contrasts the book is made.

-April 18, 1898

THE NATION.

As is well known, the scientifically gruesome is Mr. Wells's forte. In his "Thirty Strange Stories" we supped on thirty kinds of horror, each course a brief one. But in the 'War of the Worlds,' which is a novel, we are sated with one long banquet of horrors. The usual miseries of war are not enough; a hundred new ones are invented to suit the invented inhabitants of another and a more highly civilized world. The men of "vast, cool, and unsympathetic intellects," who are all brain and hand, smiting the heat-rays, and choking out life with tubes of liquid black smoke, make mere powder and sh.e.l.l household pets by comparison. To read this story of the emptying of London and the wasting of the Surrey by the loathsome Martians-for they are repulsive as well as fearful-is to quake by day and sink into nightmare after. Such tribute as this is certainly not to be denied it. The whole conception is highly ingenious, and the deliverance at last, although a fresh horror in itself, is unexpected cheer. That the accursed bacteria of disease and putrefaction should come to man's rescue and stay the Martians (who, having no bacteria in their otherwise happy home, have developed no resisting power against them as we have) is an untying worthy of Mr. Wells's genius. Under his accustomed skill of treatment the whole is entirely convincing, but we acknowledge that we prefer terror in smaller prescriptions. We suspect, however, that Mr. Wells thinks it nothing, as Mr. Th.o.r.eau says, to go round the world to count the cats in Zanzibar, and that he is not likely to be restrained from ever bolder flights of his weird fancy, to ever stranger places, whither perforce his spellbound readers must follow.

-June 9, 1898

JOSEPH CONRAD.

I suppose you'll have the common decency to believe me when I tell you I am always powerfully impressed by your work. Impressed is the the word, 0 Realist of the Fantastic! whether you like it or not. And if you want to know what impresses me it is to see how you contrive to give over humanity into the clutches of the Impossible and yet manage to keep it down (or up) to its humanity, its flesh, blood, sorrow, folly. word, 0 Realist of the Fantastic! whether you like it or not. And if you want to know what impresses me it is to see how you contrive to give over humanity into the clutches of the Impossible and yet manage to keep it down (or up) to its humanity, its flesh, blood, sorrow, folly. That That is the achievement! is the achievement!

-from a letter to Wells (December 4, 1898)

WILLIAM L. ALDEN.

We owe Mr. Wells a debt of grat.i.tude for having blocked the path of the dozens of men who would certainly have written stories of the general character of the "War of the Worlds" if he had not forestalled them and made imitation preposterous.

-from the New York Times New York Times (March 25, 1899) (March 25, 1899)

H. G. WELLS.

I had rather be called a journalist than an artist.

-from a letter to Henry James (July 8, 1915)

WILLIAM ARCHER.

Is not Mr. Wells the great Adventurer of latter-day literature? No quest is too perilous for him, no forlorn-hope too daring. He led the first explorers to the moon. He it was who lured the Martians to earth and exterminated them with microbes. He has ensnared an angel from the skies and expiscated a mermaid from the deep. He has mounted a Time Machine (of his own invention) and gone careening down the vistas of the Future.

-from G.o.d and Mr. Wells G.o.d and Mr. Wells ( 1917) ( 1917)

CONRAD AIKEN.

The critics have been right. For as one looks back over Mr. Wells's long and honourable record as a novelist one fails to recall a single vivid or credible character. They are all alike-and all alike in being rather colourless automata, mere puppets by which their manipulator has sought to demonstrate his successive att.i.tudes toward a changing world.

-from the Atlantic Monthly Atlantic Monthly (November 1926) (November 1926)

E. M. FORSTER.

All Wells's characters are as flat as a photograph. But the photographs are agitated with such vigour that we forget their complexities lie on the surface and would disappear if it was scratched or curled up.

-from Aspects of the Novel Aspects of the Novel (1927) (1927) Questions 1. According to Alfred Mac Adam, "Within Wells's personal interpretation of evolution, the Martians are what humans will be thousands of centuries into the future." If that is so, the novel depicts humanity's future destroying its present. Was Wells right about what was happening in his own time? Is it true now that what we are becoming is destroying what we are? Is the process one to lament or cheer on? 1. According to Alfred Mac Adam, "Within Wells's personal interpretation of evolution, the Martians are what humans will be thousands of centuries into the future." If that is so, the novel depicts humanity's future destroying its present. Was Wells right about what was happening in his own time? Is it true now that what we are becoming is destroying what we are? Is the process one to lament or cheer on?2. Would modern Americans act like Wells's English people in the face of such an attack, or would they react differently?3. What objections would you make to the Artilleryman's speech beginning "Life is real again..." (see p. 177).4. Consider countries you know of that have recently been devastated by an external enemy. Have they become better, more unified, less decadent, more progressive? Compare your observations with Wells's remarks in his Epilogue (p. 199).

For Further Reading

Other Works by H. G. Wells

The Time Machine (1895)

The Wonderful Visit (1895)

The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)

The Invisible Man (1897)

Tales of s.p.a.ce and Time (1899)

When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)

Love and Mr. Lewisham (1900)

The First Men in the Moon (1901) (1901)

Antic.i.p.ations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought (1902)

The Food of the G.o.ds (1904)

Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul (1905)

A Modern Utopia (1905)

New Worlds for Old (1908)

The War in the Air (1908)

Ann Veronica (1909)

Tono-Bungay (1909) (1909)

The History of Mr. Polly (1910) (1910)