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Post by Curate on Jun 6, 2003 23:15:48 GMT
One thing which has always fascinated me in WOTW was the very brief mention of a different type of Martian - creatures described as 'bipeds with flimsy, silicious skeletons and feeble musculature, standing about six feet high and having erect heads, and large eyes in flinty sockets'.
Apparently there were about three or four of these beings brought in each cylinder and they were killed before arrival, probably used as a food source for the Martians. I would have liked to have known a little more about these creatures. Were they intelligent or simply 'cattle' I wonder? Maybe they were genetically bred as a convienent food supply and weren't natural beings at all. Then again, the story was told from the point of view of humanity, and without launching an expedition to Mars themselves, a lot of things would simply remain mysteries.
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Post by Charles on Jun 7, 2003 1:36:25 GMT
Yes, the biped Martians are an interesting aside. I have a feeling they were a sort of subconscious extension of the Morlock/Eloi evolutionary equation of "The Time Machine," jammed together with his "Man of the Year Million" notion. Huxley's lessons on evolution from the Normal School of Science were still fresh in Wells' mind when he wrote WoW, and H.G. was no doubt experimenting (in thought, anyway) with the idea of basing alien forms of life on silicon to give them an unearthly and unfamiliar appeal. This concept was taken up by countless sci-fi writers from this point on. I think even the aliens in the "Alien" franchise were silicon based, weren't they?
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Post by Rob on Jun 9, 2003 9:03:04 GMT
I've just finished reading 'The Space Machine' which is an interresting read for anyone who likes WOTW. The story is largely based around the activites of the 'human' martians and how they are oppressed by the 'monster' martians.
Good read for anyone.
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Post by Earthrise on Jun 24, 2003 4:30:48 GMT
The bipeds are cattle for the Martians, there is no clue to their intelligence. But by making them bipedal, Wells is obviously saying we are an inferior species genetically to the Martians, who have evolved physically and mentally beyond our stage. The fact that we then become the cattle for the next stage of evolution is frightening, all the more because it mirrors our own assent.
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Post by Omega2064 on Jun 24, 2003 8:06:16 GMT
Indeed. The Bipeds are an interesting critter, perhaps
as the lemur is to humans in distant relation. They
are not really described as intelligent looking, merely
vaugly humanoid and re-inforcing the cold and horriffic
nature of the invaders and how they looked upon the
human race in turn.
Makes one wonder what, if anything else, was on Mars
aside from the plantlife the Martians brought along.
Omega2064
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Post by Earthrise on Jun 24, 2003 23:32:25 GMT
I always felt the Red Weed was a parasite that was unintentionally brought along with the invaders (like smallpox and rats with Europeans). The Martians seemed to ignore it, or had no obvious use for it. At their stage of development, and considering the Martian biosphere is dying, the Martians would have totally dominated all forms of life left on Mars. Even to the point where nothing would be left alive that didn't have a symbiotic relationship with the Martians (like dogs and seagulls with Humans). Maybe due to the lack of moisture on Mars, the Red Weed was a kind of moss that explosively grew on Earth when exposed to water. I know Wells said "the vegetation that gave Mars its red appearance had taken root on Earth" but he didn't know all the facts. I think this was also a tie in with his colonisation theme; here in Australia, European invaders (plant, animal and human) have almost destroyed our native ecosystem and replaced it with their own.
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Post by Omega2064 on Jun 26, 2003 12:19:39 GMT
Could be it is what the Bipeds ate? They had to have
some form of food for them. Perhaps the Martians
hedged their bets and brought the Bipeds and food for
them on the off chance the humans of Earth didn't
provide propper sustenance for them.
It would be rather bad if you go to all the trouble of
conquering a planet and then starve to death...
Omega2064
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Post by Rob on Jul 21, 2003 21:03:15 GMT
I know there is no mention of it in the book and it's totally base less but, I always used to think that maybe, just maybe the Martians could sense things through the red weed. Now wouldn't that have been scary, not being able to touch it because it naturally relayed your existance to a nearby fighting machine.
Thats my brain child and like I say it's baseless
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Post by Rob on Jul 21, 2003 21:48:19 GMT
Dave, sometimes I scare myself.
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Post by Omega2064 on Jul 24, 2003 7:16:54 GMT
The Red Creeper plant was interesting and certainly something I've pondered often. There seems a slight suggestion that it was one of several plants brought along by the Martians, but the only one to survive and prosper.
Considering how thorough and methodical the Martians were, it seems unlikely that they brought these along accidentally. (Though considering plant spores, and seeds, its marginally possible the stuff made it all the way from Mars as an airborne seed till the Cylinders open...) The stuff was all over the pit where the Narrator and Curate were trapped and growing swiftly within a day or so.
Could be that the Martians used it for some form of raw material. Perhaps refined as part of the alchemical mix that they were using to transmute clay and earth into Martian aluminum (or its equivalent.) Or a component to make the Black Smoke.
Another possibility is that the plant was used to generate oxygen. Either on the trip or on Earth for whatever reasons the Martians might have. Though thats the remotest of the possibilities as its more likely they'd just use the same super compression techniques used on the black-smoke canisters to store as much air as needed for a trip to earth.
Just some thoughts.
Omega2064
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Post by Bayne on Jul 24, 2003 12:34:39 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]Firstly, regarding the hominid martians, anyone else think the description sounds like the 'greys' of pop ufology?
Secondly, the red weed et al. It could have been the beginning of martian terraforming, or perhaps an accident. If the later it may have been Wells vehicle to comment on the ecological devestation caused by the introduction of new species such as that caused by rabbits, foxes, cats etc in Australia.[/glow]
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Post by Leatherhead on Mar 3, 2005 21:55:29 GMT
Ya know what would be cool? Bosai red weed! Keep a little version of it on you're window sill... ;D
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Post by Curate on Mar 3, 2005 22:49:33 GMT
This thread is so old I have no memory of starting it...
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