War of the worlds and why war: Wells and Freud compared

War of the worlds by H.G. Wells and "Why War?" By Freud

Wells' book "The War of the Worlds" puts across an account describing a male protagonist going through a series of experiences involving Martians coming to Earth and vainly attempting to conquer the planet. The fact that they are unable to adapt proves to be disastrous for them, as they end up dying because of the multitude of elements that their bodies cannot withstand. In addition to providing an intriguing story, Wells was also concerned about criticizing people's tendency to attempt to conquer other cultures without actually understanding them. Imperialism is one of the main topics that "The War of the Worlds" is meant to stand as a metaphor for.

The fact that Wells lived during a period when imperialism was still in its apogee influenced him to want to get actively involved in denouncing the practice. By emphasizing that technological advancement was not as important as people were inclined to believe, the writer most probably wanted to demonstrate that it is important for powerful nations to refrain from investing most of their resources in trying to conquer and enslave other cultures as long as they can use the respective resource for other purposes that might actually reflect positively on their well-being.

"The War of the Worlds" is meant to discuss imperialism as one of the most catastrophic ideologies that have ever existed. From the very first paragraph Wells makes it possible for readers to understand that they are about to be presented with a story involving imperialism and strong criticism regarding it. "With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter" (Wells 9). It is surely impressive to observe how Wells' theory can be applied in a series of cases, taking into account the numerous (apparently) powerful communities that attempted to conquer and persecute other cultures and eventually ended up suffering. Wells wanted people to understand that plans to conquer foreign cultures are likely to fail as long as the individuals interested in persecuting others are not interested in understanding the values of societies they are interested in integrating and as long as they are solely concerned in the material aspect of their actions.

Although "The War of the Worlds" appears to treat the matter of imperialism superficially (taking into account that individuals in the story do not interact with Martians and that the oppressors do not install puppet governments), the reality is that Wells provided readers with the ability to interpret his writings. The fact that he was writing during a period when imperialism was generally regarded as a positive enterprise might have played an important role in preventing him from putting across ideas that would directly criticize the business.