The War of the Worlds: Chapter 14

Oooooo-weeeeeee!

I am so glad Wells took a step back for chapter 14 in The War of the Worlds because it was getting mighty tense in the countryside with the narrator.

I love that Wells writes this chapter from a completely different perspective so that we are allowed a glimpse of how quickly word of mouth brought the news of the Martian invasion to London Town.

Evacuation would have been an absolute nightmare with over 6 million in the city (p. 78) and no means of escape save

• the canals (which were locked! - p. 72),
• the trains (which were overloaded - p. 77), or
• buggies/carts with horses (which would completely clog up the streets).

It all seems so dreadfully hopeless - as if there was a "coming storm of fear" (p. 78).

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙇𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣 - 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮?

What some of our members said:

"I would have contributed to the congestion on the streets in our buggy."

"I think I would have started out in the congestion but figured out where it was going I would probably strike out in a different direction and not on the main roads. I would probably go in the opposite direction until I got clear of town and then cut across country. Of course, hoping the whole time not to have waited too long and end up running straight into the Martians!"

"If I was there visiting Sophy, I'd let her plan the evacuation of our entire party (including Jacko). No doubt she would have it all in hand! I mean, she plans some pretty elaborate schemes so she might appreciate the challenge posed by a Martian invasion."