The Stolen Bacillus by H.G. Wells

The Stolen Bacillus by H.G. Wells

This is a story set in the 19th century people had dress codes which

reflected your status in society. The dress code was formal and quite

severe it was almost as if the longer your top hat the higher up the

rank you are in importance in society. In this story we meet a man who

wants to help the society and quality of living whereas the other

wants to destroy order as he is what’s known as an anarchist. This is

someone who is feels that people should be responsible for there own

actions and decisions meaning they govern their own lives. In the 19th

century anarchists were seen as political agitators and sometimes

violent. As in this story where we will see a man desperate and

willing to go to extremes to get his point heard.

While the scientist is talking about the bacteria, H.G Wells makes him

talk about it as if it is a human and that it is like us. This is

shown when he says, “he would wait ready to be drunk in the horse

troughs”. By comparing the bacteria to humans the author is trying to

enforce the point that it is smarter than the average bacteria it is

as complex and technically as dangerous as a human.

The scientist is an idealistic and when the anarchist paid so much

interest into what he was doing he started to show off. He spoke about

his new cholera which is very harmful to a man he has just met, which

is indeed not a clever thing to do is. The scientist is an idealist

and is out to do well in the world and improve living conditions of

people. The scientist is not a man out to make money, just simply

wants to be famous.

When the chase is on it was funny to see the ridiculousness of this

rabbit hunt round London. Even though this story had some serious...

... middle of paper ...

... them. She wanted the

scientist to put on his coat on a hot summers day. When he refused she

became frustrated.

The cabbies are another group of people in this story which shows the

reality that this story is set in with their harsh cockney accents and

they just represent the everyday people in this story. The scientist

has to rely on people which would be classed as inferior to save the

predicament he put himself in. These cabbies bring a lot of humour to

the story.

In this story H.G Wells is trying to get the point across those

politicians and scientists aren’t as clever as they think they are and

they also take themselves to seriously and so therefore make mistakes.

In the Victorian era they believed they could improve man though

industrial advancement this was achieved by individual successes like

the scientist and through agreed religious ideas.