The War of the Worlds: Plot Summary (Edexcel A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes
📚 Revision Notes
The War of the Worlds: Plot Summary
- In 1894, during the astronomical opposition, flashes of light are observed on Mars, witnessed by the narrator and his friend Ogilvy.
- Ogilvy believes it's unlikely there are living beings on Mars despite the excitement.
- A greenish flame crashes into a sandpit near Ogilvy's house in Horsell, England, which Ogilvy initially thinks is a meteor.
- Upon investigating, Ogilvy finds a cylindrical object embedded in a crater and sees something moving inside.
- Ogilvy alerts journalist Henderson, who sends a telegraph to London.
- The cylinder attracts crowds, and as it opens, a large creature with tentacles emerges, causing panic.
- The Martians attack, using a Heat-Ray to incinerate everything in their path, including people and trees.
- The narrator returns home to his wife, reassuring her that the Martians won't be a threat due to Earth's gravity.
- The next day, life in England continues as usual, with soldiers setting up a perimeter around the pit.
- Another cylinder lands, and fighting between humans and Martians begins, revealing the ineffectiveness of human weapons.
- The narrator and his wife flee to Leatherhead, but he returns to Woking to return a borrowed horse, witnessing a Martian fighting machine.
- The narrator meets an artilleryman who describes the Martians' destruction and their advanced technology.
- They set out together, encountering chaos and narrowly avoiding the Martians' Heat-Rays.
- The narrator hides in his house and later with a curate, who becomes increasingly hysterical.
- They hide in a partially destroyed house, witnessing Martians feeding on human blood.
- The narrator eventually escapes, finding the curate dead.
- He encounters the artilleryman again, who describes his plan to live underground and resist the Martians.
- The narrator finds London desolate, with Martian machines standing tall and silent.
- He discovers the Martians have died from a bacterial infection, as their immune systems couldn't handle Earth's bacteria.
- Humanity begins to rebuild, but the narrator warns against complacency, fearing the Martians might return.