Michael Robert Patrick Burke iv

Final Project Michael Robert Patrick Burke iv

Biology • H.G. Wells • Born in Bromley, England in the southeast corner of London on September 21, 1866, into a family of domestic servants and shopkeepers, one would not think that this would be the beginning of one of history’s prolific science fiction authors of all time. Herbert George Wells grew up with poverty staring him right in the eyes. His family wanted better for their son and looked to education and hard work as the solution. As a 14 year old boy, Wells received an apprenticeship to work alongside a Draper. Even though he knew he needed that job, he disliked what he was doing and was not happy. In his heart he was going to be a scientist. After being dismissed as an apprentice he landed a job as a chemist’s assistant. All too fast though he was shown that being and assistant to a chemist would get him nowhere in the field of science, and knew that it offered nothing toards his future. Turning back to schooling and education for answers he became a student teacher eventually leading him to obtaining the position of undermaster at Midhurst Grammar School. By the age of 18, he had earned a scholarship to the Normal School of Science, where T.H Huxley who taught Wells Biology and other fields of science. While at the university he founded the Science Schools Journal, where his writing first started. The journal did not last long due to Wells leaving the institution without a degree because he was disappointed in the teaching he was receiving.

After gaining experience with writing science essays, a few of them later being published, Wells became a full time writer and thought it was time to tackle his first novel. In 1895 Wells released his first science fiction novel, The Time Machine and in the succeeding years he continued to excel in that genre by putting out The Island of Dr. Morneau(1896). Then only two years later he put out War of the Worlds, which would set the platform for today’s idea of science fiction.

In his novels, Herbert Wells had come up with concepts that seemed generations before his time. It was said by critics that his writings outstretched the boundaries of what people would seem plausible and clearly in contrast with the teachings he received from Huxley, and where he stood with Charles Darwin. For example in the novel The Time Machine, Wells popularized the concept of there being a fourth dimension which would predate the labor of Albert Einstein leading to the time machine through mechanical time travel, and also talked about how the character in the story saw the human race evolved into diverse species in the year 802701, but Wells most influential piece, War of the Worlds, came a few years later. Inspiration and the concept for the novel came when earlier in the year a scientist named Percival Lowell claimed that he saw man made canals on the surface of Mars, and when society heard what Lowell was saying their imaginations ran wild. This is where Wells caught his readers by taking all of the thoughts and ideas that people perceived what an extraterrestrial Martian would be like if they invaded England. Even today, modern movies are being made to project what Wells was trying to express to society.

Summary: War of the Worlds • In the science fiction novel, “War of the Worlds” author H.G Wells starts with the narrator who really never identifies himself, but does reveal that he is write years after witnessing a “great light” being sent from mars in the year of 1894. In the Victorian English town it caused a lot of attention, therefore leading our narrator to travel and meet with astronomer Ogilvy, who shows concern with what is going on. Over a ten day period they observed the “great light” flashing, then the duo deciphered that it was the Martians beaming themselves from 35,000,000 miles away. After accepting the fact that another life form was on the way the people went back about their daily lives. They did not realize that very soon the Martians would stage there landing. During the landing though the people mistook it for a falling star then a meteorite. Then Ogilvy found that it was not in fact either of them when it hit, by finding that the crash landed object contained something even more unknown that he something the astronomer had ever seen before and then rushes to the nearest town to share the news. Then as word begins to spread our narrator makes his way to the pit, he is joined by hundreds of fellow curious people. With all of the commotion a young man managed to fall into the pit with the cylinder, panicking because the cylinder is opening the crowd looks for cover and the young man is left stranded. Emerging is a long tentacle creature with grayish leather skin and did not possess lips or a chin said to be the size of a bear. Using a white flag trying to signal peace a group of men made their way towards the cylinder, before they were able to send their message they were incinerated by the heat beam. Word of this travels to the neighboring towns and more and more people want to come see what all the commotion is about. Crowds of people from various places around, surround the pit where the original cylinder landed wanting to see something to satisfy their curiosity. Then all of sudden the heat beam was activated again, killing more innocent bystanders even when not hit with the beam people were killed from being trampled. After witnessing the chaos the narrator leaves to return home to tell his wife that still has not heard word of what is happening, the newspaper has also caught word as well and tells the people to not to panic because the Martians cannot move due to the Earths gravity. Yet there are soldiers guarding the crash site now and another cylinder has landed. The narrator has packed up and fled town when he catches the news of the second landing. With his curiosity getting the better of him he wishes to return to the ships. As he was on his wagon he witneseess a third landing but it was a different type of machine then the other two. Described as a tall metal tripod, with long tentacles, it moved directly at our narrator. In a state of panic he leaves everything and hides within the darkness of the trees. He then made his way to a cottage for the night to escape the rain, in the middle of the night an artilleryman that is looking to escape the weather and take a break from traveling. They have a few drinks and discuss their plans regarding the Martians. In the morning they set out together, our narrator who is set on leaving the country and the soldier wanting to meet back up with his unit. As they are traveling they wanted to avoid the landings at all costs, as they approached they river at the town of Weybridge. Once they arrive the Martians initiate their first major attack on the town. Our narrator is able to survive by hiding under water to escape the heat beam. Luckily the soldiers were able take down one of the ships to give them a small victory before they lost all hope, now that they have noticed the foreigners are landing regularly every day now. Upset and distraught our narrator talks about all of the feelings that he is experiencing mainly directed to his wife with the reason untold. As he was walking alongside the river he noticed a man sitting on the bank, looking just as distraught as he was. It was the curate for the church of Wheybridge, and explained to the narrator that they are doomed and asked what he and his towns people done to deserve all of the destruction and chaos to be set on them.

Continued… • The story then changes to the brother of our original narrator, and begins to tell us his story. He is writing out of the town of London and explains how the level of concern is low due to how news like this always enters the city but no one fears the worst because nothing has ever happened to them. Just like our original narrator he is curious and plans to visit his brother and Martian landings. He then is awaken in the middle of the night will alarm of Martians invading. That morning he makes his way to the train station, and as he is there people affected by the first landing attacking. • Towards the end of book one, the original narrator and his brother take turns telling their own stories about the new weapon the invaders possessed nicknamed the “Black Smoke” and their struggles to maintain their lives in the time of the invasion. London and the surrounding cities are in a state of shock now having 6 landings of cylinders to worry about.

Continued… • Book two continues with the original narrator accompanied by the curate as they travel back to Leatherhead. Stumbling upon a house that hasn’t been cleared by looters, they find food, water and shelter. Nervous about staying in one place they are set on leaving but a cylinder crashes right on top of the house knocking out the narrator. Wants conscious they realize they are trapped in the house because of the Martians working on a new pit right out front on the house. Spending days observing the creatures the narrator compares man and the Martians in three ways. The Martians do not feel fatigue, as well do. They do not reproduce like we do and they do not wear any clothes just switch bodies to fill the desired job. As the days pass the two attempt to dig their way out but that fails, another set of days go by an really got inside the head the of the curate who becomes insane and attempts to blow the cover of their hiding spot. In a state of panic the narrator hits him in the head with a meat chopper and kills him. It is heard from outside and the Martians search for the noise. Hiding out for a total of 15 days now our narrator is weak and hungry, time has passed since the last noise heard he leaves the protection of the cottage and begins to travel again. Awestruck how 15 days has changed the appearance of the outside world he is thinking what the rest of the planet is looking like, with the cover of night out narrator continues his quest until he runs into a familiar face. The artilleryman, but the attacks have destroyed him mentally. Just like as it did to the curate the narrator eats and listens to the warning his friend gives him regarding the extermination of humans all over the world. In fear of losing hope in seeing his wife again, he continues his journey. Arriving at the destroyed London, it seems our narrator is losing all hope due to the start of suicidal thoughts.

Continued again… • Hearing a unfamiliar sound he follows it until he reaches a crowd of people and with a closer look a pile of dead Martians, justifying the sound he heard was a cry of a invader dying. He was informed that all of the Martians have died due to a disease they contracted here on earth. Overwhelm with emotions he catches the re-opened trained back to his town optimistic that his wife will be safe. His optimism pays off when his wife see’s him through the window of their home and they are reunited. With many parts of the invasion a mystery to our narrator he takes out a positive from the whole experience. The Martians have destroyed the sense of security people on earth have held for so long and now they can stop wastefully living their lives.

Island of Dr. Moreau • Island of Dr. Moreau Summary • The story begins with our main character, scientist Edward Prendick, whose ship goes down when he is exploring in the south pacific. After being stranded for a few days he is rescued by the Ipecacuanha, a boat that a unknown scientist is found on referred to in the story as Montgomery. After being nursed back to health he realizes what kind of a situation he is in. The boat contains many animals and with many animals come many noises. From Prendick to the ship’s crew the animals get on their nerves and create tension on the boat. Continuing with all of the cages now tied off separately and this is where Captain Davis wants to remove Prendick from the equation so he places him on an old boat that begins to fail. • So now Prendick is stuck with the expedition to the unidentified island he is offered a place to stay and starts catching word of what is going on. He suspects that the island that the party is traveling is connected with Dr. Morneau who like Montgomery, the man who nursed him to health, is a scientist that perform strange experiments with animals , eventually turning them into humans. His suspicions are confirmed when they arrive at the remote island and see a man drinking water as if he was actually an animal, and also he saw dead animals with more people who resembled pigs. Frightened he runs back to the beach of the island when he notices that something is chasing him when the figure jumps at him he defends himself with a rock. • Curious about what is happening to these creatures he ventures to Dr. Moreau’s laboratory to find answers, while searching Morneau enters angrily approaches Predick. Out of panic he fleas the laboratory an heads back to the beach. While at the beach he finds a ape like man. They begin to talk and the creature explains to Prendick what Morneau and Montgomery are doing and take him back to the huts. There he meets the Sayer of the Law, and is told that everyone must obey and follow the Law, referring to Morneau. Searching for the frightened Prendick and wanting him back in the house because it isn’t safe out with the creatures the two scientists reassure him that they do not want to use Prendick for their experiments and that they only want animals. Wants back with the Scientists they procede to tell Prendick the background of their studies and how they started on this island 11 years ago. After receiving some answers Predick begins to explain about the creatures he encountered and the one that attacked him. • Back at the laboratory they resume the experimentation on the animals, but this time something went wrong and the puma that they were experimenting with escaped wanting to prevent it from fleeing Dr. Morneau chases after it leaving the safety of the compound. Returning after his brief search for Moreau Dr. Montgomery explains to Prendick how all the animals have gone mad, concerned for doctor’s safety the remaining two set out to look for their missing comrade. The animals realize Moreau is dead and the law that they abided by seems to have disappeared. Trying to maintain control Prendick tries to make up a lie to cover it up. Desperate and out of ideas Montgomery lets the whiskey flow giving it to some of the animals. Affected, the animals start killing each other and Prendick comes to find dead bodies and among those bodies is Montgomery. Alone he realizes he has nowhere to live except the hut with the animal men, who are now losing their human like instincts as he is too. After some time with the creatures he is rescued from the island but is not approved by people due to his animal like nature. On the flip side though he now can see the inner animal in everyone which turns him away to all humans in the end.

Reviews: WOW • I thought Wells did an excellent job at portraying the Martians and the scenes in the book. Using subtle items in story to stand for something bigger then what you notice at first. It is an idled science fiction novels and now understand why so many movies have been made out of it. 3/ 5 stars

Review: Island of Dr. Moreau • Just as he did in War of the Worlds Wells allowed me as a reader to create a picture in my mind of what the creatures looked like. Also the events of the story just went well with each other, for example when they used symbolism to show that Moreau was the “law” and the creator but then being killed by the very things he spent 11 years working on just went well with each other and kept me on my toes when reading. • 4/5

Characterization • My first literary device for the novel War of the Worlds is characterization, Dictionary.com which defines it as “the creation and convincing representation of fictitious characters.” In the novel, War of the Worlds author H.G Wells used characterization to allow you to vividly picture what the Martians, and various people our narrator has come across in the novel look like and what their demeanor is like. For example the quote from the narrator as he was describing the Martian ships, “ Vast spiderlike machines, nearly a hundred feet high, capable of the speed of an express train, and able to shoot a beam of intense heat.” (WOW 85) It was important as a reader to be able to picture that ship because being it was one of the first major science fiction novels of his time, Wells had a huge task in front of him to keep a reader’s attention with a novel that possessed characters that seemed unbelievable so he had to use detailed descriptions to show what picture he was trying to paint chapter to chapter. Another example would be when he described the curate he had met after the battle at Wheybridge (WOW 76) , and also as he vividly described the bodies of those who had fell victim to the Martians.

Conflict • Conflict is “to fight or contend; do battle”, this is important due to the fact the book is centered around the conflict of the Martians and our narrator along with the people he encounters. An example of conflict is, “…a colossal puff of flame suddenly and violently squirted out of the planet, ‘as flaming gases rushed out of a gun.” This shows really shows the beginning of the human Martian conflict, the humans were unknowing of what was to come but once the Martians arrived they did what exactly the definition of conflict says, they contended for their right to exist on earth. Other examples would be once again the fight between the narrator and curate then leading to the curate’s death. In addition, is the direct conflict between the military and Martian machines in the sequence of battles that played throughout the novel.

Symbol • A Symbol is a literary device used in War of the Worlds as well as The Island of Dr. Moreau. It is important to the book because it allows the author to give an object, or a person to stand for something then it really looks like or means. “The Master and the House of Pain will come again. Woe be to him who breaks the Law!” (Island of Dr.Moreau 42) This shows that Moreau is the law, and is not only the creator of all of the creatures but also he stood as the symbol of authority for everyone.

Works cited • Biography of H.G. Wells." Biography of Herbert George Wells. War of the Worlds Invasion Website. Web. 09 May 2012. <http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/h_g_wells.htm>. • "Spartacus Educational." Spartacus Educational. Web. 09 May 2012. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jwells.htm>. • "The History of Mr Wells." The History of Mr Wells. Web. 09 May 2012. <http://www.ansible.co.uk/writing/ft-wells.html>. • "The Island of Dr. Moreau Summary." Study Guides & Essay Editing. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.gradesaver.com/the-island-of-dr-moreau/study-guide/short-summary/>. • Wells, H. G. The Island of Dr. Moreau. New York: Modern Library, 1996. Print. • Wells, H. G. The War of the Worlds. New York: Epstein and Carroll Associates]; Distributed by Random House, 1960. Print.

Michael Robert Patrick Burke iv