Zero Hour Literary Elements

Science fiction, short story

The story is set in an unspecified sort of Scranton suburban development, possibly in New York, in more or less the modern day.

Third-person point of view following Mrs. Morris, a housewife who watches the true action of the story happen with her daughter, Mink, who is participating in a new game called "Invasion."

Concise, matter-of-fact, deceptively calm

Protagonist: Mrs. Morris and the rest of sane humanity. Antagonist: the invading Martians, as embodied in "Drill," who prey on the minds of human children and use them as entry points for taking over Earth.

The world's children are caught up in a new game they call "Invasion," and their parents look on with pleasant disregard. It soon becomes clear, however, that this game might be more sinister than one might first be led to believe, resulting in dire consequences for humanity.

The climax of this story certainly occurs during "Zero Hour," the titular time scheduled for the invasion. At 5:00 pm, all the children suddenly go quiet, and there begins a loud buzzing. Too late, Mrs. Morris realizes the danger and pieces together the reality of what's happening, but to no avail; she and her husband are cornered in their attic by the Martians and Mink, who creepily says, "Peekaboo."

This story is full of foreshadowing, as everything Mink says to her mother serves as a clue to what is truly happening, as well as what will happen at Zero Hour. Perhaps the most unnerving instance of foreshadowing is Mink's casual remark to her mother: "Mom, I’ll be sure you won’t be hurt much, really!"

"‘He’s new all right,’ said Mink." (referring to Drill, the Martian)

This story is almost entirely self-contained, being purposefully vague with regard to all kinds of specifics. There is, however, one notable allusion: the mothers of the children talk about their own childhoods, when they played games such as "Japs and Nazis," a reference to the events of World War II.

The use of long words coming from the mouths of young children is a sort of imagery that recurs through the book. Mink obviously knows words and concepts that she should not, such as "hexagonal" and "impressionable," but Mrs. Morris doesn't take any notice of it. This imagery is disconcerting, adding to the overall impression that something isn't quite right about this situation, an impression that reaches its climax at Zero Hour.

The Martian plan to invade Earth is foolproof as a result of its paradoxical nature; it might seem risky to use children to invade Earth, since they will simply tell their parents, but their parents will never believe them, thinking it's just a foolish game. This paradox - the fact that the adults had all the warning in the world and yet still did not expect the attack - enables the Martian takeover.

The children's rejection of Peggy Ann parallels that of the older boys in the neighborhood as well as their parents: they are "too old," meaning they will know enough to believe this invasion must be stopped, an eventuality the Martians cannot allow.

"She started on her second bowl." (2)

"Downstairs the audio-televisor buzzed and buzzed insistently, alarmingly, violently." (6)