Summary
Book 1, Chapter 1
The novel begins with the ominous assertion that there is intelligent life watching humanity. The obliviousness of humanity to this menace cannot be sustained for long; the unnamed narrator points out that these minds are to those of humans as human minds are to those of beasts.
The narrator describes Mars and suggests that life must have emerged there before the earth was cool. This is because Mars is older and because the civilization that emerged from there is mind-bogglingly advanced in comparison to humanity. He also points out that the polar ice caps of Mars are shrinking and its atmosphere is growing thin. Therefore, he presumes, the Martians turned their attention to the rich bounty of Earth.
The narrator notes that humanity must seem like pests to Martians, and they would be no more hesitant to exterminate us than humans would be to kill animals or Europeans to wage war against people such as the Tasmanians.
For several years before the invasion of Earth, astronomers had noticed peculiar lights on the surface of Mars, which the narrator asserts must have been the cannons that fired the canisters toward Earth. However, this receives little attention other than a short article at the back of a newspaper.
An astronomer named Ogilvy invites the narrator to look at Mars through his telescope to see this for himself. The narrator is able to see the planet Mars, impossibly remote, but he does not see what he refers to as the "Things" that are being sent towards him. He does see one of the streamers of flaming gas that Ogilvy has been talking about, though he doesn't know the destruction it will eventually bring.
Ogilvy thinks that it must be a meteor shower that is causing these explosions, and he is dismissive of the idea that life might have taken two parallel paths on two different planets.
Eventually, the public notices these explosions on the surface of Mars and the papers carry stories about it; there's even a political cartoon about the explosions. Still, no one is particularly worried about this development and humanity goes about their normal activities. The narrator learns how to ride a bike.
One night, he points out the planets and constellations to his wife. It is an idyllic night, and humanity has no idea what's coming.
Book 1, Chapter 2
One night, there is a falling star, garnering the attention of numerous astronomers. It seems to fall about 100 miles away from where the narrator lives. Ogilvy is determined to find the meteor—when he reaches the place where it landed, he is shocked to find a huge cylinder rather than a meteor. The cylinder whirrs, and he realizes that someone inside is trying to get out.
Ogilvy runs into town to get help, but the townspeople assume that he is a madman. At last, he gets the attention of the journalist Henderson, who believes him. The two return to the cylinder and tap on it, but they receive no response and assume that whoever is inside must be dead. Henderson wires the news to London. Eventually, some old men and boys go to the cylinder to "see the dead men from Mars."
The narrator is startled when he reads this article in the paper and goes to investigate for himself.
Book 1, Chapter 3
When the narrator arrives at the cylinder, he discovers that a crowd of townspeople has already gathered to stare at it; a few young boys are even throwing rocks at it.
Seeing it up close, the narrator thinks that it looks like a rusty gas float or other human detritus. However, the narrator notices that the metal of the cylinder is unlike any found on Earth.
The narrator is sure that the cylinder comes from Mars but thinks that it must be empty—nothing could have survived that flight, surely.
Newspapers run the story about the Martian object found in the small city of Woking, and more people come to see the cylinder. Workmen try to excavate it, which is no easy task.
Book 1, Chapter 4
When the narrator returns to the cylinder, he discovers that the crowd around it has grown even larger. In fact, one poor man, whom the narrator recognizes as a shop assistant from Woking, has fallen into the crater and is having great trouble getting out.
Suddenly, something emerges from the cylinder. The narrator and everyone else assembled expect to see a man, but instead, a totally alien creature emerges. It is about the size of a bear and covered with tentacles. It also has enormous, luminous eyes. The creature is truly horrifying, and it calls to another one of its kind still in the cylinder. The narrator, along with the rest of the assembled crowd, flees into the nearby woods.
To his horror, the narrator sees a black round object bobbing at the edge of the pit and realizes it is the young shopkeeper's head—the man is still in the pit with the aliens! Suddenly, the man's head disappears, and the narrator imagines that he hears a terrible scream that is suddenly cut short.
Book 1, Chapter 5
The narrator is torn between fear and curiosity. Curiosity finally wins him over enough to peek at the pit again, where he sees tentacles waving.
A larger group of people, including Ogilvy and Henderson, approach the pit carrying the white flag of peace. Suddenly, there is a flash of light and a large dome-like object arises from the pit. There is a flash and suddenly all the members of the peace delegation are turned to flame and reduced to ashes. Some of them try to run, but it is too late. Some of the trees burst into flame as well.
As suddenly as it appeared, the strange object disappears and dusk settles over the English countryside. It all seems so ordinary with the Martians in their pit once more, but the narrator is filled with total terror of the Martians. He flees from the scene.
Analysis
The novel makes heavy use of the literary technique of foreshadowing: indicating future events through ominous language and allusion. One example of this occurs in the opening lines of the novel: "No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own" (pg. 1). Foreshadowing creates a sense of anticipation and doubt in the mind of the reader, encouraging them to keep reading.
The War of the Worlds is famous for being one of the earliest examples of science fiction and for being the first popular story about the invasion of Earth by creatures from another planet. The novel is also remarkable for its realism and attention to detail; since Wells drew many of the locations for the novel from his own experience, the geography is extremely accurate. It is important to remember that the novel was written before the advent of modern astronomy equipment: in the minds of Wells' readers, therefore, there was a very real possibility that Mars might be inhabited.
Although the unnamed narrator is recounting the story long after the invasion and is thus able to bring to bear certain scientific information that was not available to him then, much of the narrative details his journeys around the English countryside trying to survive the Martians. Later on, the narrative will switch to the perspective of the narrator's unnamed brother, likely to allow the reader to learn about events that occurred far away from the narrator. However, most of the novel is narrated by an unnamed Englishman, who has some connections to the scientific and literary communities of his day.
In the first chapters of the novel, Wells draws on the ancient Greek idea of hubris: the idea that one's pride and arrogance are one's downfall. Human beings are certain of their supremacy not only on Earth but also in the cosmos, and they don't notice the danger that lurks right at their proverbial doorstep. Even when the cylinders land, the first instincts of most people are to treat this alien intrusion as a spectacle; people gather, vendors sell food, and children even throw rocks at the strange object. They either don't realize or refuse to accept that life as they know it is about to change.
