War of the Worlds by Herbert George (H.G.) Wells

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Recommended: War of the worlds motifs

War of the Worlds is a novel written by Herbert George (H.G.) Wells in the year 1898. It is a story of and alien invasion that takes place in London, England and how humanity as a whole come together in the toughest possible situation, against the odds, and in the face of adversity, and still come out victorious despite the countless numbers of dead. Destroyed buildings and landmarks. And at times loss of hope. In this report, I will be discussing three of the most important terms of the book: conflict, setting, and motif. The conflict, setting, and motif of War of the Worlds is: Man vs. Martian, early 20th century London, and Death (as the motif).

The first term I am going to discuss is conflict. Man vs. Martian is the perfect example of conflict in this story. The conflict in this story happens almost immediately after the Martians land on Earth. When the first Martian lands, a crowd of people gather around the crater that was created by the impact of the ship. They see the Martian step out of the ship and almost immediately incinerates one of the humans peeking into the crater. Eventually, more Martians land, and eventually the entire human race is under attack. The Martians come close to killing the narrator (who remains un-named) many times throughout the book. Attempts of attacks on the Martians by the humans appear to be futile. On a side note, Humanity vs. itself is also an important conflict in this book. Some of the main characters begin questioning themselves, religion, and going insane at times. These circumstances seem to be a true test of how one holds one’s self together in times of great turmoil.

The next term of discussion is setting. The majority of the book takes place in small towns in the countrys...

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...d of unknown causes in 1946 at the age of eighty in his home in London. Some speculations to his death have been diabetes or even a possibility of liver cancer. He was cremated upon request, and jokingly stated that his epitaph should read “I told you so. You damned fools.” Herbert George Wells with forever go down as one of the best science fiction authors of all time. And his works will continue to inspire people as long as they are around.

Works Cited

McCauley, Kelly. “TheBestNotes on The War of the Worlds”. TheBestNotes.com

17 May 2007. Web. 3 April 2011.

Wells, H.G. War of the Worlds. New York. The Platt and Munk Co.; Inc.

1963. Print.

Jones, Mary D. “War of the Worlds book review”. Curledup. ELBO Computing Resources, Inc; 2004. Web. 3 April 2011.

Merriman, C.D. “H.G. Wells Biography” Online-literature. Jalic Inc;

2007. Web. 3 April 2011.

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