GCSE Drama, Paper 1, Unit 1, The Evaluative Phase

In H.G. Wells War of the Worlds the humans’ instinct to survive overcomes threats to their existence.

When faced with the unknown the human instinct for survival gives us only two options, fight or flight.

When the unknown plumes of fire were first spotted shooting from Mars it attracted many scientists, and it was also the same year that Mars was close enough to Earth to allow scientists to observe it with telescopes from that era. It was not until the cylindrical object, for that is what the scientists now knew what it was, entered the Earth’s atmosphere that most humans felt the fear of the unknown. When the first object had landed, many noises were heard emanating from within. As time went on the noises gradually faded to nothing and many people felt relief that whatever was living inside, was now dead. It was not until the lid started unscrewing that humans became frantic. “It’s a-movin’, a-screwin’ and a screwin’

As always humans fear the unknown, and what we can not control. Although the humans fought valiantly, they did not win the war. Many humans had survived the war only because they stayed hidden until the threat had passed. In this case it was the Martians that were killed by the naturally occurring red weed that was growing on a mountain.

The many soldiers that managed to escape had to find a place to hide and one “pushed on, wet and shivering to the nearest house.” (29) Other soldiers that did not want to take the risk of flight “hid under dead horses for a long time, peeping out furtively across the common” (33) in hopes that the Martians would leave. People returning to their homes found soldiers retreating, hiding or dead. The soldiers cared about other people because those returning home were told to leave because “you may be hurt if you cross the canal.” (22) Soldiers retreated beyond the range of heat rays and continued to fire wildly at the fighting Martians. It was hard to survive when the enemy is about twenty times the size that you are and have superior weaponry. Even though many sacrificed their lives and died, the efforts were continued.

Without any chance of survival, many are killed in the line of duty as they sacrificed their lives for others. Many have been killed because they have hid or they have been trampled over in the mass exodus from the Martians. The soldiers had to fight back at all costs, and many were out nights trying to defeat the Martians. “Under a bridge I found a group of soldiers ready for battle.” (23) “During the night the Martians had been surrounded by Military troops and that heavy artillery was expected.” (22) The weaponry that the humans had was not effective against the Martians. Many soldiers had pla

Some topics in this essay:
Thunder Child”, War Worlds, Survival Written, fighting machine, martian fighting machine, martian fighting, snake-like tentacle, humans fear unknown, “the thunder child”, “the thunder, humans fear, kill martians, sacrificed lives, thunder child”, cylindrical object, accomplish task,