Arrogance and Knowledge: The Significance of the Artilleryman in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds

In The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells uses the artilleryman's plan to illustrate the conflict between the arrogance the British possess and the knowledge that Great Britain has. Because the artilleryman does not have the same arrogance as the British upper class citizens, he accepts that the aliens are capable of dominating over the humans. He also believes that by acquiring more knowledge, humans will be able to overthrow the alien reign. By …

…uses the artilleryman and his fundamentally-flawed plan to portray Britain's faults. By providing fictional examples, Wells illustrates that the British are arrogant. He also demonstrates that the British are knowledgeable and powerful, but contrasts this perspective by showing how arrogance is capable of rendering knowledge useless. In doing so, Wells tries to make the reader more conscientious about their perspective by illustrating how an arrogant perspective can cause even the mightiest of empires to fall.