The Significance of H.G. Wells and History

The Significance of H.G. Wells and History

Spencer Pioszak

ENG 362 - Johnsen

12/2/14

There is a handful of great writers that changed the twentieth century and beyond. That is what literature does: it changes ideas and prejudices, it informs and excites, it teaches and distracts. One of perhaps the most influential science fiction writers of all time was H.G. Wells. He has done what all great science fiction writers have done or try to do—use history as a lesson for the future, make predictions and warnings based on facts and proposes an answer that should be considered. Humanity follows the same model but often doesn’t see the signs or learn from its mistakes. This is our curse, a conformed complacency supported by prejudiced minds. As readers, we see circumstances unwind and unfold, we see tragedy and horror come to fruition, and we try to understand where character could not, we try to learn the lessons and feelings that the author is trying to unveil. And all the while we are being entertained. Also as readers we relate and connect what we’ve read to other literature and events in our lives that we’ve experienced. For hundreds of years writers have written stories to tell a bigger story, to present a larger issue for the consideration of the public. None can be more entertaining than the seemingly outrageous and wildly prophetic writings of H.G. Wells. He wrote several great works that are popular and regarded as artistic in their own fashion.

While reading The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells it is important to take into context the time that it was written. Written at the turn of the century, the world had seen the advantages and capabilities brought on by the Industrial Revolution. Bright and wonderful things can be seen on the horizon and yet knowing the extent of human nature, technology and human progress should be approached with a cautious and almost cynical view. Technological breakthroughs are thought to make life better, it is supposed to be about the betterment of mankind! But greedy and immoral people use it to only benefit themselves and that’s counterproductive to mankind’s growth. This adds to ignorance, arrogance and the misconception that knowledge is wisdom. This is may be what Wells is trying to get across. He pushes it again and again in his stories, but especially in The War of the Worlds.

Perhaps one of the most overanalyzed quotes is when the narrator opens the novel with the juxtaposition between the humans and the Martians. He shows the similarity between the two. “And before we judge then 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 Europeans immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?” (Wells, 10-11). Wells points out the irony of so-called human progress, knowing history: death of millions in the new world in the name of exploration and Manifest Destiny, technological advances that make weapons more effective. He elicits the idea that humans would do the same as the Martians if given the opportunity, conquering, defeating, destroying, but the humans were limited to the technology of their time. But eventually technology will advance. And so will our “ruthless and utter destruction”. He uses the biblical term “apostles”, again to show the irony, simplifying human and European aggressive expansion in relatable Christian terminology—Christians are supposed to be understanding and moral but at the same time they are responsible for some of the most immoral, inhumane events in human history. He mentions specifically the desecration of the Tasmanians by the Europeans in the name of progress. This was not a slow, drawn out process either. It was calculated and precise, similar to the Martian conquest of Earth. Human history is filled with these instances—peoples, better equipped through technology wiping out other populaces—almost to the point where it defines humanity. And this is one of the things that literature tries to prevent. But it is not successful when its constantly being challenged by human smugness.

Besides the comparisons between the humans and the Martians, multiple times Wells also references the dodo and its relationship to mankind: there is in fact a resemblance between the dodo and humans—dodos were existing without concern, in a sinking idiocy, alone on an island ignorant to the existence of others beyond a sea. They just waited for their imminent destruction. This is simply because the Martians and they technological advances were so far beyond the understanding of human science that the humans were left stumbling and confused in the face of their own destruction. The humans were complacent and ignorant—foolish enough to believe that they had dominion over their corner of the universe. Wells introduces this concept early in the novel. “With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter” (Wells, 9). This directly addresses the issue that men have enough arrogance to think that they have the control over land and nature, when truthfully they don’t. It is only after the Martians invade that humans realize that they not the highest on the food chain, that they are not in control of their lives and their deaths. This is the one of the important lessons that Wells wishes us to take from The War of the Worlds. Yet, we rarely listen, we remain unshaken, asleep. Unfortunately, in today’s society we remain with this theory that we are separate, that we are alone in our existence and our struggle. Well that is the generally accepted truth. But the only truth is in literature. There are those that believe that we are not alone and that it is only a matter of time before they streak across the skies bringing either celestial brotherhood or relentless death.

Death is an abstraction that many writers try to pontificate and expand on. Wells’ ideas and views are once again expressed in his 1909 novel, Tono-Bungay. The narrator is ambitious; he has a mind for science and business; he helps his uncle produce a medicine but his uncle doesn’t quite have the business savvy necessary so the business bankrupts. He then must save his uncle’s finances by transporting radioactive “quap” from Africa. After his uncle’s death he reflects on the nature of death in regards to humanity. “My mind swayed back to the ancient beliefs and fears of our race. My doubts and disbeliefs slipped from me like a loosely fitting garment. I wondered quite simply what dogs bayed about the path of that other walker in the darkness, what shapes, what lights, it might be, loomed about him as he went his way from our last encounter on earth—along the paths that are real, and the way that endures for ever?” (Wells, 432). This can be construed to as the narrator’s impartial understanding and view of death. Death is powerful and always coming; it is an ancient fear held by all men. It is abstract and obscure, it’s not clear “what dogs bayed about the path”, but he knows that there is something in the darkness, beyond that of human comprehension. The title itself is ironic in a way: Tono-Bungay is supposed to be a cure-all but actually it became more of a problem than anything. And in the end, it can be inferred that the narrator would soon be profiting from death not health. Wells may have been smart enough to see the trouble brewing in Europe at the time but he probably would never be able to predict the extent of the damage. That is up to the cynics. But mankind is cynical and aggressive so there will always be profit in the business of killing.

These beliefs presented to us in the fiction of Wells are sometimes misconstrued as negative or cynical. They may, however, seem that way but in the presentation of these opinions there is great opportunity in preventing some of these self-inflicted disasters. If the messages that Wells was trying to convey were significant in their warning at the beginning of the twentieth century, then it is imperative that they are taken into careful consideration now, when humanity is on the precipice of environmental destruction. If Wells would’ve lived to see the end of the twentieth century, he would’ve lived to see a multitude of his predictions and fears come true. He had already lived through World War I and World War II and seen the use and devastation of radioactive weapons. He joins a growing collective of artists that attempted to get the world to listen and to understand the truth of literature. It’s amazing to look at passed events and turmoil and see parallels in the world today. Amazing and scary. There is this cynical cyclical pattern that mankind is trapped in and it will only get worse if humanity doesn’t wake up soon.

Comparisons can be drawn between these two novels and Christopher Clark’s non-fiction book The Sleepwalkers. Each one takes place at either the turn of the century or the first few years of the twentieth century. It was a tumultuous time for the world; societies were transitioning from pre-modern ideas and living to more modern thinking. Economies and politics were changing along with military attitudes. The time promised to be different than any other. And that it was. There were ethnic and religious conflicts, substantial debts owed to other countries. This leads to a collapse and fallout. But again there are parallels in modern times. It can be assumed that the title is derived from and expands on what Wells was in implying in The War of the Worlds. Mankind has this habit of living in a fantasy. We build this bubble that we call “real life”; we think we are awake and safe. The existential truth is that we actually are just organic specks on a larger organic blue-green speck surrounded by billions of years of obscurity. This bubble can be categorized as sleepwalking. Sleepwalking, existing in a dream or fantasy, not conscious to realities and horrors around us. It is a very dangerous way to live. As Christopher Clark most aptly puts it in the final sentence of his book: “In this sense, the protagonists of 1914 were sleepwalkers, watchful but unseeing, haunted by dreams, yet blind to the reality of the horror they were about to bring to the world” (Clark, 562). It is frightening to think that so terrible a war, so unbelievably society changing of a conflict can be contributed to mankind not being awake or aware of their own existence and mortality. It may be only a matter of time before another earth shaking; gut-wrenching conflict is on our doorstep again. Mankind’s illusion of movement forward is just sleepwalking and it too, like vacuous wars in the name of progress and expansion, is seemingly counterproductive to humanity.

Seeing great stories over and over again and reviewing the history of past conflicts and discriminations, it is hard to believe that humans are capable of repeating the same mistakes again. But once again mankind could slowly be falling into complacency, gradually becoming sleepwalkers. To Wells, it was necessary to write more than just a good science fiction story, and it should be to readers as well. Literature must shake us awake! We must be comprehensive and accepting, we must be creative and aware. It is a lesson, a promise and opportunity. Readers must take into account the time and context in which a work is written, they must approach and assess with an open mind, willing to let go of certain prejudices. To understand fiction, to understand literature you must understand history.