Period 3- Abbey Stefanides- Post 3
In these chapters I have decided to watch and follow the narrators wife. Now I know that we haven’t heard or seen much of this women, but I feel that she is a very important person in this book. She is the reason why the narrator is having all of these adventures. If it weren’t for this women being a part of this man’s life I don’t even think that there would be a book called the War of the Worlds because the man would probably be dead.
The things we know about the narrators wife. She is in Leatherhead hiding with her cousin who (lets face it) is probably going to run away without her if he sees, or comes in contact, with a martian. Another thing that we know is that she is a supporter of her husband (just like every wife), but she is a special person. In the beginning of the book I thought that her husband was away a lot, but she put up with it.
My questions for you are:
What would this book be like if roles were reverse and the narrator’s wife was the narrator? Really think about this question. Think of all of the details that would change. Would the knowledge of the martians change? Think really hard.
Abbey 
Category: Character Watcher, Per 3 WotW CW 4 comments »
March 1st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I believe that to find the true answer to this question you would have to ask the author. It is impossible to say because we know so little about his wife. H.G. Wells wrote the story based on the husband being the narrator. He could have easily made the wife the narrator, put her in her husband’s position, and gave her the same traits as him.
We should not be asking ‘what if’ questions, but instead focus on what is actually happening in the novel. The only significance of the narrators wife is that she is the driving force behind him. Without her, perhaps, the narrator might have given up at some point.
-Ditz
March 1st, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I somewhat agree with you Shaun, but I think to have a full understanding of a novel you have to ask ‘what if’s. Mr. Risser has us ask ‘what if’ questions to have us look all the possibilites and to help us realize how significant things acually are. It helps us to see and say, “Wow, WHAT IF this hadn’t accualy happened. All of history would have changed.”
I think that it is the same thing as the book. I think that becuase the wife would be the narrator the book would have been different. It would have had the same story line, I do agree with you there. But, maybe her husband wouldn’t have been her drive to stay alive. There are a whole bunch of posibilities.
Abbey Stefanides
March 2nd, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I have to agree with Shaun that it is impossible to know what would have happened if the roles would have been switched. But i believe that yes the wife would of had the same drive as her husband to survive. If he would love her that much to kill a man to stay alive, to be with her again.
Kody
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Yea I have to agree with Shaun too. H.G. Wells is the only one who could tell us how the wife would act. But if I had to guess, I think she would want to survive in order to protect her husband. He loves her a lot, and I think we can infer that that love is returned. She obviously cares about him. The night the Martians first come, she waits up for him when he comes home late, and in the beginning of the book the narrator mentions how he and his wife took walks hand in hand. I think if the roles were switched, the wife would fight just as hard as the narrator is to survive and get back to her husband.
-Paula