Period 1 WOTW Illuminator Taran Copenhaver
I find it confusing that the main character after seeing the heat ray would go home and spend a nice relaxing day at home. just like in most of chapter 9. for example it says on pg 117 “I got back to lunch about two, very tired for, as I have said the day was extremely hot and dull; and in order to refresh myself I took a cold bath in the afternoon. About half past four I went up to the railway station to get an evening paper, for the morning papers had contained only a very inaccurate description of the killing of Stent, Henderson, Oglivy, and the others.” I find that strange that he nearly died and then he goes home and does nothing to prepare for the martians or is even really worried. Now he did leave with his wife to Leatherhead once the fighting began but in the day before that there were no plans of escape or even really any feelings of sorrow or fear. I believe that the author is trying to make it seem as if we are not really prepared for this war. He might also be foreshadowing how his ordinary life is about to be turned upside down. Maybe just the opposite, he might be saying that after the war is said and done he may go home nearly dying but moving on as if nothing had happened. what do you think? Do you believe that this is a foreshadow of events to come or a general statement about the planet Earth and its occupants? Or do you believe that this has nothing to do with the story and that I do not know what I am talking about and just wasting your time? Go ahead voice your opinion.
Category: Per 1 wotw IL 5 comments »
February 22nd, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Colin Easter
I also found it interesting that he didn’t think about leaving. However, at the time the martians didn’t have their tripods setup. The narrator probably thought that they were stuck in the sand pits and couldn’t move. Thus, he saw no reason that his home would be in danger. Once the fighting started and the heat ray hit his house, he knew that he was in danger. I would agree with the statement that the author is trying to make it seem that we aren’t prepared for this war. The soldiers comment about how they were wiped out. I think it would foreshadow people fleeing to safety only when the martians come to their doorstep. The author might be suggesting that people are slow to respond when danger is close but not there at the moment. Most of the author’s comments about people so far have to do with them being unprepared and going about their business. In conclusion, I think that the author is trying to say that people can be oblivious to the events around them. People also react slowly to the threat of danger when it isn’t right in front of them.
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I would have to completely agree with Collin. You would think that the narrator and everyone in the town would be freaking out about the extraterrestrials, but they’re not. I know I would be scared out of my mind if I knew beings from another planet were on Earth, trying to take over. I would agree in saying that the author is trying to show how unprepared all the civilians are. I think the author’s way of getting away with this is because they have never had an experience anything close to this. Never before have aliens been on this planet. At least not to their knowledge. I believe that the way the people are responding is a foreshadowing of the overall response of the human population. I think the purpose of this is to give a reason for more destruction, and a harder struggle for the humans to survive. I do not believe however that this means that all the people will go home at the end without a worry in the world, like nothing happened. I think that would be too unrealistic. Overall I think the author is trying to show how naive the humans are to this situation, causing them to be even more prone to the dangers of the extraterrestrials.
~Erin C.
P.S. Taran you’re not wasting your time. You had a real point. Ha ha.
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:06 pm
It is a little odd that he would go home and relax after his life was almost taken. If that were me I sure wouldn’t do that. I am gunna say that it is just a general statement about the Earth and its people because I can’t think of anymore evidence that Erin and Collin haven’t already said. It is just a general statement about Earth and its people because no one thought that the martians were that advanced to do anything but stay in the hole and fire a heat ray, so they felt no reason to be alarmed unless they are right near the hole. Why panic if you don’t have to. So him going home a relaxing and not freaking out is a general statment about the Earth and its people.
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Sonam Sherpa
Well Taran first off I don’t think that you are wasting your time by thinking of all of the possible reasons why the narrator acted this way. I personally believe that the reason why the author made the narrator do this is because he wanted us as the reader to get a glimpse into the narrator’s average life. So I would have to agree with you that the author wrote this to foreshadow how everyone’s life will be massively screwed up after the martians landed. There could also be another reason why the author wrote the narrator doing this. This reason would be because the author could have been trying to show how certain people respond to catastrophe. What I mean by this is that certain people when faced with catastrophe man up and face it head first, and others like the narrator just deny that it’s happening and that it’s all going to be okay.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I totally agree with Sonam in saying that the author (this is on top of what I said before) react to situations differently. This got me to thinking about some things. One way this is seen in people is how someone may react to the death of a loved one. Some people would break down and cry right away, when some others do not. This is often seen in young children, because they do not totally understand what is happening until much later. This is because they have never experienced a death before. This is a lot like how the people of the area are. They have never experienced something like this so they do not know how they should respond.
~Erin C.