The War of the Worlds and A Martian Odyssey - Admission/Application Essay Example

The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds is a scientific fiction novel that gives a narrative on invasion of the earth by the Martians that was written by H. G. Well’s in 1898. The world represented in the story is believable. This is due to the fact that the locales described in this story are real places in Britain. Readers familiar with Britain would readily recognize the names of the places mentioned in the story and the descriptions of the countryside. Also, Wells describes weapons such as batteries of cannon and ironclad warships that were once symbols of terrible destruction used by the British Army (David, 105). However, the Martians invaded the mighty British army using more advanced mechanization. The Martians use chemical weapons that produce black smoke that chokes and kills human beings in great numbers. This later became a reality during the First World War when after the invention and use of the mustard gas. The Martians also used a Heat-Ray to annihilate military technology used by human beings (David, 105). The same concept is used in the creation and use of the famous laser weaponry. Generally, Well’s expression of how mechanized invasion might take place and the mentioning of real places makes the narrative more believable. Remarkably, the story is not give definite time when the advanced technology will be applied in military or when invasion would occur. Nonetheless, most of the tactics mentioned by Wells in the narrative became common in 20th century with the use of mobile weapons and technology. The characters in The War of the Worlds are well defined. One of the major characters is the narrator who is represented as a philosopher who is among the first people to notice the arrival of Martians. The Martians are human-like species with highly developed brains and with technical abilities that enable them to escape their planet to the earth which is more habitable. They use their terrible war machines to kill human beings and to destroy towns, sometimes for the purpose of exercising their extra-ordinary power. However, without the machines, they are weak, helpless and pathetic (David, 107). Other characters present in the narrative are Artilleryman, Curate, Brother, Wife, Ogilvy, Henderson, Landlord, Wife and Sister of George Elphinstone. Looking from a broader perspective, the Martians represent powerful western nations who posses great powers and technological abilities and are not bound by the rules of morality. They move to other less powerful nations where they treat people ruthlessly and pursue them like hunters (David, 107). The situation predicted by Wells is plausible and has been enacted in real life in the past. The situation involves destruction of the capital British Empire and its surroundings, destroying infrastructure such as armament stores, telegraph lines and railways (David, 109). The invasion is aimed at terrorizing human beings to the extent that they are left without any will to resist. As mentioned earlier, these strategies were common in 20th century, especially from 1930s with the invention of weapons and technology capable of making ‘surgical strikes’ on key civilian and human targets (David, 109). This prediction was realized more in during World War II with attacks, terrorism and evacuation of large groups of civilian populations and destruction of cities. This shows the extent to which the situation described in the narrative is possible. A Martian Odyssey A Martian Odyssey is a scientific fiction short story written by Stanley G. Weinbaum and published in 1934. The author of this narrative uses the strangeness and mystique of Mars to develop an odd and alien world. The story talks about possibilities of life in the Mars and is developed in a way that makes it believable. The narrative is simple enough and it talks of four men who fly from the earth to the Mars (Elton). One of them decides to take a plane to fly across Mars to explore it. The plane breaks down and the explorer is forced to walk across the strange, alien land back to the ship before the set time for staying on the Mars expires. This explorer comes across numerous features of the planet, some of which have been found to be present by modern explorers. Mars is described as a red, cold desert with many landmark features. Studies have found that there are no cities of aliens and forests as described in the tale but this does not matter. The way the author uses familiar objects to describe the mars makes the story believable. Notably, the author talks of using auxiliary rocket to move from the earth to explore the planet Mars. Though he does not predict definite timeline as to when this would happen, explorations of Mars started a few decades from the time the narrative was written (Elton). Characters of this tale are well defined. For example, Jarvis is the hero who flies across the mass to take photographs but unfortunately, his rocket crashes. He eventually makes friendship with an alien named Tweel. Tweel is an intelligent bird who is capable of learning English and giving speech and gives companion to Jarvis in his journey (Elton). The other characters are the other three multi-national crew and aliens and other strange creatures present on Mars. Looking from a broader perspective, Jarvis is an adventure who accepts that he is part of the happenings occurring around him and wins the trust of Tweel after rescuing him. This shows that a human being can make friendship and actually communicate with an alien species. Though the author tried to incorporate common objects and life-forms in this narrative, the situation described in it is not plausible. Tweel, for instance, is described as a bird that is able to think as well as a man in some cases, better than a man (Elton). This bird is represented as having feelings like those of a human being and with a high level of intelligence. The bird is able to learn English and to communicate back in a well organized speech. Such a situation may not happen and can simply be described as imaginations. Works Cited Gahr, Elton, Short story reviews: A Martian Odyssey, by Stanley G. Weinbaum, 2009, Accessed 25 April, 2023. [http://www.helium.com/items/1504331-short-story-review-a-martian-odyssey-by-stanley-g-weinbaum] Gerrold, David (2005). War of the Worlds. In Glenn Yeffeth. War of the Worlds: fresh perspectives on the H.G. Wells classic, New York: Cengage Learning Read More