H.G Wells once said; “Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe”. Wells was named “The man who invented tomorrow” for he was an influential scientific member of society throughout his life and still today. Wells was intrigued by the evolution of the world and how he could perfect its flaws. This led to the contribution of his science fiction works. All of Wells works were written due to his dedication and interests in science, politics, and loss of faith and religion throughout his life.
Science became a huge part of Wells life from an early age. Wells grew up with his parents in Bromley, England however he was never influenced by them. The only thing Wells parents did for him was make him see that he did
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As wells grew older he did not have a reason to believe in this so called “faith” because he always saw the cruel around him. While Wells was passing through life in a poor family “His attitude about society grew increasingly pessimistic” (Loveday, Veronica). Wells lost his faith and grew pessimistic from the constant worry about the others around him. This worry was not sincere, it was a concern that the people around him were going to ruin the world he lived in. Wells was viewed as a man with loss of faith but, “Instead we should note that he was a believer in a possible world, one in which this species could live up to its potential” (David. C. Smith). This little faith in society is what kept his writings interesting, for example The War of the Worlds (1898) and The Time Machine (1895) were inspired by Wells views on how society was failing. Wells religious loss was however formed by another sense, “One important reason the devout believer became an atheist was that he had a difficult time accepting both theism and Christianity because, as he stated, when he believed in evolution, he could no longer accept Genesis” (Dr. Jerry Bergman). This belief in christianity would have influenced Wells writing for the wrong reasons and put a bias on his …show more content…
Wells always sought for political harmony and for society to become the perfect utopia he always strived for. It was always known that “Politically, Wells supported socialist ideals. For a time, he was a member of the Fabian Society, a group that sought social reform and economic disparity in a number of his works.” (H.G Wells Biography). This society gave wells the inspiration needed for writing many of his award winning stories. For example Wells novel “A Modern Utopia expressed a desire for a society that was run and organised by humanistic and well-educated people”(john Simkin). This book showed how The Fabian Society had an impact on Wells writings and influenced him to talk about politics outside of a societal setting. Another political writing of Wells is The Time Machine. This book had a lot of hidden politics embedded throughout and “Wells' made social commentaries on what he viewed to be society's ills throughout the novel” (Loveday, Veronica). Throughout The Time Machine readers got a sense of science fiction writing when really Wells was trying to give his political views in a story made for entertainment. The ideas of Wells came not from education but, from what he believed needed to be done for a perfect politically correct society. The well educated, politically, scientifically correct man we know today as H.G Wells has made a major impact on society through his many works of literature.
Jules Verne heavily impacted science fiction and the technology of today through his novels. His science fiction novels grew popular and as a result made this genre well-known. More importantly, his novels predicted the moon landing, skyscrapers, submarines, planes, hot air balloons, and more. These works were read by scientists and explorers, like Simon Lake who designed the submarine, and these readers attempted and succeeded to create these inventions and explore to the places, like the moon, that are in his stories.
Orwell himself is the one who coined the term of political purpose, and because of this, he seems to be the best person to compare other writers to when discussing political purpose. Orwell defined political purpose as, “Desire to push the world in a certain direction,” and he writes, “…no book is genuinely free from political bias. The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude” (3). Orwell, therefore, believes that art is ultimately political in purpose whether that was the intention or not. He believes that no work can be “free from political bias.” He seems to be of the opinion that art must have political purpose or else it will be “lifeless,” much like his earlier writing. Alternately,
Before World War I, the literary term known as the Utopia emerged. Many people believed that society would be happier if the individual made sacrifices for the “common good”. However, the war changed all of that. Society began to fear governments in which everyone was the same and was ruled by a dictator. Thus, the genre of the dystopian novel emerged. “Dystopian novels show that any attempt at establishing utopia will only make matters much worse.” (Dietz, 1996) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 1984 by George Orwell are considered classic examples of this genre by such critics as Frank Dietz, Beaird Glover, and Donald Watt. These distinct novels both warn against utopia through the portrayal of the protagonist begins as part of a society in which the individual is non-existent, come into contact with influences that cause their rebellions, and eventually come into contact with some upper hand of the government.
Mark Twain would not love what science and technology has lead us to in today’s day and age. Born over a century before the first computer was created, Mark Twain believed in the sense that there was no such thing as a new idea. He believed in a theory that as human beings we use what has already been created, use what he describes as a “mental kaleidoscope in order to create new ideas, inventions, and innovations. This mental kaleidoscope is simply given a turn, and new combinations are created using thoughts that have previously been constructed. Even though new ideas are not created, deep thought is necessary in order to turn the mental kaleidoscope. Today, with smart phones and computers in the hands and homes of people all across the world, our capacity for deep thought is diminishing. Along the same lines, as discussed in the Nicholas Carr book, The Shallows, people are thought to becoming less intelligent. The thought in the book is that even though we are still getting smarter, or at the very least our IQ scores are improving. This somewhat constant uptick since World War II is known as the Flynn Effect. The book goes on to explain that this advance is not us as a society getting smarter and having more knowledge than our ancestors, but simply a change in the way we think. In today’s society we are programmed to think more scientifically than any previous generation. This paradigm shift in the way we think and look at the world should not be considered an advancement for our society. In the end, we are only hurting ourselves by diminishing our ability for deep thought. The inability for deep thought in the relatively near future should be looked at similarly to global warming. Currently we have the ability to do something about technology taking over our lives. Something must be done in the next century or we risk
H. G. Wells had rather extreme views in every respect. He was a prominent Fabian for some time and upheld many socialistic ideas that many still have a problem with. His views on human nature were pessimistic, the future was an eventual disappointment, but his writing is the kind that can capture the attention of many people from all ages and walks of life and draw attention to his ideas—which he did to great effect. What makes these books so fascinating? To answer questions such as these, it is imperative to know about the life of the man behind the books. Herbert George Wells was born on September 21, 1866 into a lower middle class family. He worked hard as both a student and assistant to multiple jobs before moving to London with a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Science. It was here that he was introduced to “Darwin’s Bulldog”, the eminent biologist T. H. Huxley, a man whose opinions helped shape Wells’ own for the rest of his life. Instead of becoming a biologist as recommended by Huxley, he became instead a teacher, and overworked himself until he fell into very bad health. On the doctor’s orders, he went to the south coast of England to rest until he ran out of money and returned to London. It was around this time that he met Frank Harris, editor of the “Saturday Review” newspaper, and began his careers as both a novelist and a journalist. Throughout the rest of his life he wrote steadily, averaging a little more than a book per year. In following his writing, one can see four distinct styles emerging throughout it all. At the beginning he went through a science-fiction phase containing books such as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and the Invisible Man. The second phase contained his “humorous Dickensian novel...
All in all Wells was trying to warn us that the apocalypse or end of
...rlds. Internal and External conflicts are shown along with foreshadowing; humans believed that they were the superior of all races. Foreshadowing, Symbolism, and Irony were literary elements used to enhance the theme. Over a course of 52 years, Wells wrote more than 100 books. A majority of which were science fiction books.
All throughout American history there has many intelligent individuals that have played significant role in our society. I believe Thomas Edison has been one of the most influential people. He was an American inventor who is considered one of America’s leading businessman. People today credit him for helping to build America’s economy during the nation’s vulnerable early years. Thomas had a very good childhood and was a very hard worker as a teenager. He invented the universal stock printer and he perfected the lightbulb.
[Verne is acknowledged as one of the world's first and most imaginative modern science fiction writers. His works reflect nineteenth-century concerns with contemporary scientific innovation and its potential for human benefit or destruction. In the following excerpt from an interview with Gordon Jones, he commends the imaginative creativity with which Wells constructs his scientific fantasies and stresses the difference between Wells's style and his own.]
Wells was born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Her father, James Wells, was a carpenter and her mother was a cook. After the Civil War her parents became politically active. Her father was known as “race'; man, a term given to African Americans involved in the leadership of the community. He was a local businessman, a mason, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Shaw University. Both parents provided Ida with strong role models. They worked hard and held places of respect in the community as forward-looking people. James and Elizabeth (mother) Wells instilled their daughter a keen sense of duty to God, family, and community.
H.G. Wells was born on September 21, 1866 in Bromley, Kent a suburb of London. His father, Joseph Wells, and his mother, Sarah, were married in 1853 and they
In this essay I am going to discuss Wells' use of contrast in the Time
... He states that his motivation for writing is not mainly dominated by political purposes, but because of sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, and historical impulse. However, Orwell realizes that having a political purpose, such as his position against totalitarianism, helps bring life to his books. This essay emphasizes that Orwell had goals of becoming well known for his work.
During the late Victorian Britain, H.G. Wells became a literary spokesperson for liberal optimism and social reform. His scientific knowledge and literary capabilities led him to be one of the fore fathers of modern science fiction. In his novel The Time Machine, Wells, knowledgeable on the teachings of Charles Darwin and those of the Fabian Society, attempts to warn society that the brutality of capitalism and the plight of the laborer are not dealt with through social reforms then humanity will drive itself to extinction.
The world of the future that Wells describes in his novel is the time of 802701 year. A terrifying surface of the neglected gardens, ruined buildings and two biologically separated species of "post human" occupied the Earth. Likewise, the world was divided into two parts: the Upper-World and the Underground World. As the matter of fact, Wells created the first anti-utopia in the world