The War of the Worlds: Key Quotations (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature)

Key quotations

Revising quotations for your GCSE English Literature exam is often most effective if the quotations are grouped according to theme. Here’s a selection of key theme quotations to help you with your revision.

Nature and evolution quotations

The theme of nature and evolution is prevalent throughout the novel, particularly through Wells' presentation of the narrator’s response to what happens.

Analysis

• The narrator reminds the reader of the evolutionary principles that underpinned scientific thinking at the time that Wells was writing: 

  • The repetition of “intelligent” is contrasted with “repulsive”, underlining the xenophobic prejudices of the characters

Analysis

• The narrator recognises the impact of the Martians’ invasion on the natural world and environment in other-worldly, negative ways: 

  • Diction associated with disease and decay, such as “cankering”, “rotted” and “dead” describes the hideous devastation and Wells' choice of the imprecise word “thing” suggests that it is almost beyond human description 

Analysis

• The artilleryman describes the qualities he believes the human race needs to survive: 

  • His language mimics the theory of social Darwinism in the novel – the survival of the fittest – with the juxtaposition of words with positive connotations of community and strength such as “able-bodied” and “clean-minded” with those with negative or inferior associations such as “weakling”

Fear and the unknown quotations

A theme of fear and fear of the unknown runs throughout the novel, in the narrator’s experiences and in the descriptions of minor characters such as Mrs Elphinstone and the curate.

Analysis

• The narrator is candid and honest when he explains the impact of witnessing the peace party, with their white flag, being incinerated:  

  • A man of science and rational thought, his irrational fear is an instinctive “panic terror”, which emasculates him and renders him child-like

Analysis

• The curate, a religious man, displays an irrational but understandable reaction to the situation he is in with the narrator, linking the inexplicable events to his views about God and the apocalypse: 

  • The use of repetition, the pause and the exclamatory sentence reveals the terror the curate feels at the destruction he is witnessing 

Analysis

• Wells shows how all the characters in the novel experience fear as a consequence of the Martian attacks and the breakdown of social hierarchy and order: 

  • The triplet “fearful, hysterical, and depressed” underlines the impact of her fear and distress and this is deliberately juxtaposed with her former life where she was “safe and well” 

War and destruction quotations

The theme of war and destruction dominates throughout the novel from the arrival of the first Martian cylinder on Earth. The Martians leave destruction in their wake, brutalising the natural environment, murdering humans and disrupting Britain’s infrastructure.

Analysis

• The narrator refers to a powerful Assyrian king from the Bible, a controlling and destructive ruler: 

  • Wells offers the narrator’s biblical analogy to reinforce the horror of what is being observed and the destruction of the city 

Analysis

• The artilleryman’s words reflect the trauma and impact of war on this character: 

  • The short, exclamatory sentences, inclusive pronoun “we” and defeated tone convey the the impression of his mental frailty and degradation 

Analysis

• Towards the end of the novel, the narrator seems reckless, as if resigned to his own death or destruction: 

  • His behaviour is “wild” and he is “trembling” as Wells deliberately selects words with connotations of distress or illness

  • This rational character now feels “exultation”, reflecting the transformation of his character as a consequence of his terrifying experiences in the war