The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells

1237 Words3 Pages

Although it was published seventeen years after my death, the novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells is a work of fiction that I would take great pleasure in reading. It would not be because of the futuristic tales of creatures from Mars that would make it so enjoyable, but instead the major themes that present themselves in the novel. It would be quite easy to discover that many of my ideas manifested themselves in Wells’ work. He drew many of his inspirations and ideas from our mutual friend, and his mentor, Thomas Henry Huxley. War of the Worlds helped perpetuate my work in a literary and fictional fashion, something that I greatly appreciate. I am Charles Darwin and although my passion is natural science, I have a feeling that this science fiction tale would be something that I would love to read.

In December of 1831, I began an expedition that would change my career, my life, and the way many people thought about evolution. I am, of course, referring to my five year voyage on the HMS Beagle. I was brought upon the ship to be a naturalist, and found this to be a great honor. It was not until the year of 1835 that I made my biggest discovery. On the Galapagos Islands, I began seeing subtle differences in mocking birds that differed from island to island. From this, I had an idea that would become the height of my career. This was the idea of natural selection. What I meant by this was that all animals adapt to their surroundings; food sources varied among islands and this caused the birds’ beaks to change and adapt. This also meant that parents pass traits, both good and bad, down to their children who later pass those traits to their children, so on and so forth. Although I found all of this to be very interesting, I put...

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...hould have no say in what happens to them and have no rights. This is usually the main idea and reasoning behind imperialism.

In conclusion, I believe that it almost goes without saying that I would enjoy Wells’ War of the Worlds. Even if I was not an avid reader, I would be sure to pick up a copy of this novel. I just find the main themes of this novel to be fascinating, and Wells proves that he has the ability to make these topics interesting even to readers who aren’t attracted to science fiction. This is a novel with timeless themes that are proving themselves able to stand the test of time. It is quite exciting that I took part in something so enduring. I mean, come on kids, what is more exciting than natural selection and Social Darwinism?! Nothing, of course! All of these reasons are why I would give this novel two thumbs up and a very high recommendation.

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