Period 1 War of the Worlds Character Watcher
Erin Campbell
In the first five chapters of the story the main characters name is unknown. What is known is that he is an adult male that seems to be in the upper class. We can assume this because he knows things about meteorology and associates himself with higher level society. When he finds out about the capsule that landed on earth near him, his interest is sparked and he goes to see it as soon as possible. He is definately one of the braver people because he approaches the capsule with the other men (including Ogilvy and Henderson). This seems to diminish a fair amount when the capsule opens though, when he backs up. So my question to you is if you think the main character is brave or a coward? Also do you think this will stay the same through out the story or will it change? In other words if the you think he is brave will he become scared, or if you think he is already scared will he become courageous? Use facts to back up you view.
Category: Character Watcher, Per 1 WotW CW 5 comments »
February 11th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Sonam Sherpa
Erin, I agree with all of the facts that you said about the man, but I do happen to believe that this man was neither brave or a coward. This is because it is the same as in “Lord of the Flies” in the sense that the curiosity that peaked within this person had outbalanced the fears he might be having. An example from “Lord of the Flies” would be when in the beginning they are curious about the island and choose to go on an expedition before taking care of making a roster of who and how many kids were there. So this shows how sometimes an overpowering emotion can block our common sense. But if I had to choose what he was I would say that he was brave. The reason why is because he was trying to survive, he didn’t just roll into a fetal position and wait to die. I also believe that he will only get more brave throughout the rest of the story. The reason behind my logic is that it seems as if that this first interaction with the martians will only be the first of many, and it it known that certain situations can change a person to become tougher. This example could also be backed up by informatio from “Lord of the Flies”. This is because after the boys had gone through the whole ordeal on the island they had matured beyond that of an average child. This backs up the fact that when a large obstacle appears in someones path they normally change to be able to deal with this obstacle.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Colin Easter
In addition to the other facts about the man, he also notes that he has a wife and writes abstract manuscripts (presumably philosophical papers for a living). While bravery and cowardice may certainly play a role later in the novel, there is nothing in the first five chapters that conclusively determine whether the man is brave or not. If the man had come straight up to the alien and touched it, would he have been brave? The action would probably be considered foolhardy or suicidal, not brave. In this situation, he was in shock and awe more than anything. This rendered other actions, which would have been determined by his level of bravery, indecisive. For a long time he neither ran away nor walked up to the capsule. Thus, neither of the traits can be accurately applied to the situation.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I dont not think the question of if he is courageous or not can be answered just yet. I don’t think that we know enough about him. All we know is that he backed up when the “Thing” came out. He also said he was was paralized with fascination, and there was a battle field in his mind between curiosity and fear. Therefore I do not believe that he is curageous nor a coward. If he were curageous he would have helped the man. If he were a complete coward he would have ran completely away. Thus, he just had a normal reaction to back up.
I also believe that he will become more courageous throughout the story because he is so interested by the “Thing.”
Amber Jones
February 11th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Taran Copenhaver
I Think of the main character as brave. He seemed to have been scared to approach the hole and when the aliens started to blast, he ran away. He would have to have been stupid to have stayed right there and died. I belive that he was curious and when things really become intense he may try to shy away from them but I belive that he will see that he was there when they first arvied and that he lived through the heat ray, and that he is still alive so he must have something to do with stopping the aliens. I belive that he will go from curious to courageous and will face war in the heart of it.
February 22nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Erin: Use paragraphs and avoid plot summary. Also, including some more concrete pieces of info might be helpful. And give some room in your question so your group members don’t just end up rehashing the same ideas over and over…
That said, fairly good responses guys. Avoid just covering the same ground though. It might be more difficult if you are the last to post, but you must try to find something new and interesting to say.