H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds: The Martians are Our Future
Machinated Parasites
Could the Martians of H.G. Wells’ science fiction classic The War of the Worlds be his projection of humanity evolved? Connections between the physical and emotional nature of the aliens clearly link Martian technology with their soulless ways. Instead of bringing boundless prosperity and happiness, the extreme technological progress of the Martians coupled with thousands of years of evolution has transformed their bodies and destroyed every last vestige of compassion and the ethical that they might have held. These connections suggest a similar fate for mankind.
The most significant connection between the Martians physical nature and their destructive and ethically bankrupt tendencies can be found in the vast technological advances their species has made. In The War of the Worlds, the Martian race has co-evolved with their technology so much so that the narrator upon first encounter has trouble figuring out where machine ends and alien begins, describing them as “a great body of machinery on a tripod stand.” Technology has atrophied the Martian body to the point that they are completely devoid of entrails, a digestive system and sexuality. Without these functions for consumption, the Martian is able to subsist purely on “blood obtained from a still living animal” by means of a pipette run from the prey into the recipient canal. The physiological advantages of the Martian body are tremendous, increasing productivity and allowing them to function 24 hours a day with “little to no fatigue.” This same efficiency however has turned them into parasites, with no capacity for the ethical or moral. Just as they leech and suck the blood of sentient creatures, they seek to reap the Earth of its resources.
Wells’ Martians are projections of humanity and technology evolved far in the future. It is clear to see his implication that the Martians have evolved from creatures very similar to us, suggesting that we as a human race will naturally
Could the Martians of H.G. Wells’ science fiction classic The War of the Worlds be his projection of humanity evolved? Connections between the physical and emotional nature of the aliens clearly link Martian technology with their soulless ways. Instead of bringing boundless prosperity and happiness, the extreme technological progress of the Martians coupled with thousands of years of evolution has transformed their bodies and destroyed every last vestige of compassion and the ethical that they might have held. These connections suggest a similar fate for mankind.
The most significant connection between the Martians physical nature and their destructive and ethically bankrupt tendencies can be found in the vast technological advances their species has made. In The War of the Worlds, the Martian race has co-evolved with their technology so much so that the narrator upon first encounter has trouble figuring out where machine ends and alien begins, describing them as “a great body of machinery on a tripod stand.” Technology has atrophied the Martian body to the point that they are completely devoid of entrails, a digestive system and sexuality. Without these functions for consumption, the Martian is able to subsist purely on “blood obtained from a still living animal” by means of a pipette run from the prey into the recipient canal. The physiological advantages of the Martian body are tremendous, increasing productivity and allowing them to function 24 hours a day with “little to no fatigue.” This same efficiency however has turned them into parasites, with no capacity for the ethical or moral. Just as they leech and suck the blood of sentient creatures, they seek to reap the Earth of its resources.
Wells’ Martians are projections of humanity and technology evolved far in the future. It is clear to see his implication that the Martians have evolved from creatures very similar to us, suggesting that we as a human race will naturally