The War of the Worlds Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
The War of the Worlds is told by an unnamed writer living near Woking, outside London, when Martians land in giant cylinders. From huge three-legged fighting machines they destroy armies with a heat-ray and poison gas, and England collapses. Just when all seems lost, the invaders are defeated by the smallest enemy imaginable.
It is one of the first stories about an alien invasion of Earth.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| The narrator | Writer separated from his wife |
| His wife | Sent to safety at the start |
| The narrator's brother | Medical student who flees London |
| The artilleryman | Soldier with grand plans for survival |
| The Martians | Octopus-like invaders from Mars |
How does the invasion start?
A falling star lands on Horsell Common near Woking. Crowds gather around a strange metal cylinder. When it opens, grayish, tentacled creatures appear, and a ray of invisible heat burns everyone who approaches. The narrator takes his wife to safety in Leatherhead and returns home. More cylinders land.
↑ Back to the topWhat are the fighting machines?
The Martians build huge walking tripods armed with heat-rays and canisters of black smoke that suffocate everything. The army's guns are useless. The narrator flees across burning countryside and sees a tripod brought down by artillery at Shepperton.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens in London?
In a section told by his brother, all of London flees in a stampede of carts and crowds. The brother escapes to the coast with two women and boards a steamer. A small warship, the Thunder Child, rams and destroys two tripods before it is sunk, allowing the refugee boats to escape.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens to the narrator?
The narrator hides in an empty house with a terrified man who has lost his mind with fear. A cylinder lands beside them, burying the house, and for days they watch through a crack as the Martians feed on captured humans by draining their blood. When his companion's raving threatens to give them away, the narrator knocks him out, and a Martian tentacle drags the man away. A red weed from Mars spreads across the land.
↑ Back to the topHow does The War of the Worlds end?
The narrator emerges into a silent, red-covered landscape. He meets an artilleryman who dreams of building an underground human resistance but is too lazy to begin. In London he hears a strange howl and finds the Martians dead and dying in their machines. Earth's bacteria, to which humans are immune but the Martians had no defense, have killed them. The narrator returns to Woking and finds his wife alive, and the world slowly rebuilds.
↑ Back to the topMore about The War of the Worlds
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.