Question

Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacular appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air.

–The War of the Worlds,
H. G. Wells

What is the author's purpose in this passage?


How is this purpose revealed?

Answer 1

The author’s purpose is to shock and horrify the reader while establishing the Martian as an uncanny, threatening other. Wells wants us to feel the narrator’s fear and revulsion and to appreciate the creature’s alienness and menace.

How this is revealed
- Vivid, grotesque imagery: details like “lipless brim… quivered and panted, and dropped saliva,” “heaved and pulsated convulsively,” and “lank tentacular appendage” create a physical, repulsive picture that provokes disgust and alarm.
- Uncanny personification and comparison: phrases such as “one might say, a face” and “large dark-coloured eyes… regarding me steadfastly” give the creature human-like features while keeping it disturbingly other, intensifying the reader’s unease.
- Strong, active verbs and sensory detail: verbs (quivered, panted, dropped, heaved, pulsated) convey urgent, violent motion and make the scene immediate and visceral.
- Tone and perspective: the first‑person viewpoint (“me”) and the partly clinical aside (“one might say”) mix personal terror with a detached, observational voice, which heightens tension by making the horror seem both witnessed and strangely scientific.

Together these techniques force the reader into the narrator’s immediate, horrified experience and firmly mark the Martian as a dangerous, alien presence.