H.G. Wells?

Question

Europe was unimportant til the 1400’s 'cause it then discovered some advances like gunpowder, printing, & the mariner’s compass that Asian civilizations were making. The mariner’s compass allowed them to travel out of sight & reach other continents. Europeans began probing other continents & finding “natives.” They realized they didn’t have the advances that Europe had & wanted to offer this to them. The price of this was colonization. Europe colonized many of these continents making them foreign to those who lived there.

This happened before H. G. Wells wrote this book in 1898. How does the title of the book, The War of the Worlds relate to Europe’s colonization of other continents? Do you think Wells had Europe’s colonizing other continents in mind when writing this book? Do you think there is any coincidence that the war of the worlds fell upon the British (Europeans) in the book?

Answer 1

That's a good opinion, but I think he did not have that in mind. He wanted to teach his home country a lesson on what he thought was wrong. At that time, the British were making slaves out of Africans. H. G. Wells was trying to show his people that was wrong by writing that sci-fi story. But you will never know. You might be right.
And the goal of Europeans was to conquer the new land to add to their country. And to spread Christianity.

Answer 2

H.G.Wells was a socialist, as well as an author of what he called "scientific romances". He based his science/fantasy ideas not on science and progress, but about the effect of fabulous circumstances on ordinary people. I very much doubt that Wells was attempting to draw parallels between the European Empire and his Martian invaders when he wrote "The War of the Worlds".
The central theme of the novel seems much more likely of humanity's essential powerlessness in the face of calamity--you might call it a fable of humility--after all, it isn't anything that humans do that cripples and eventually destroys the Martian invaders--it's the earth's microscopic germs and viruses that the Martians have no natural immunity against.
The story, like all of Wells' science/fantasy novels, takes place in England for the simple reason that Wells was English, and wrote about the civilization and culture he knew best.

Answer 3

"Tono Bungay" contains many of Wells' pet dislikes, particularly advertising and the apparent ability of modern marketing to sell total rubbish; the tale is comical and thought provoking take on the Emperor's New Clothes. "Tono Bungay" goes somewhere towards establishing my view that no one is ahead of their times. This silly remark is often made in regard to thinkers like HG Wells and Leonardo Da Vinci. HG Wells was very typical of late 19th early 20th century thinkers, he was a socialist who fell out with the Fabians, following the horrors of the Great War he was a pacifist, he likewise believed in a World State free from nationalist aggression. He visited Roosevelt and Stalin, both thought he was a well meaning eccentric.