H. G. Wells’ famous books, The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, embeds warnings to the people of the Victorian Era. In The Time Machine he specifically warns of the consequences of capitalism and abuse of technology. He conveys other messages through The War of the Worlds like the downsides of religion, social Darwinism, and overall power.

            In The Time Machine, Wells mainly focuses on the idea of capitalism and touches on reliance in technology. This story tells about the Time Traveler who goes to the future and sees first hand what capitalism and abuse of technology has done to the human race. Because of reliance on technology, upper class men and women have transformed into the useless and fragile people called Eloi. The Eloi, whose ancestors once ruled over and took advantage of the working class are now livestock to the lowly, weak, and barbaric Morlocks. Wells even says, “I felt like a schoolmaster amidst children…” (28) It’s ironic that the once upper class, powerful people became disposable pieces of meat to the Morlocks. Because of this, one might say Wells was trying to warn the people of his time to not be too greedy and to treat everyone equally. Even today, one would probably still consider his warnings valid and realize good people should still be treated well and that sometimes technology makes people lazy.

            Another topic Wells warns readers of is religion. He attacks religion and points out its flaws. For instance, in The War of the Worlds one of his characters, a curate,  become insane. The curate is lost without the church and quickly loses his sanity. He blames people when he says, “We have sinned, we have fallen short…I preached acceptable folly-my God, what folly!” (Wells, 231) The crazed man professes many other ludicrous things and accepts them as if he and the rest of the world has sinned and now deserves hell. This is a clear example of how people dependent on religion can make people feel as if they can’t control their own destinies. Today, one can ask themselves if religion is helping them live their lives, or rather controlling it.

            Lastly, Wells challenges readers to consider their real power and be mindful of their actions. In The War of the Worlds humans feel helpless, and don’t understand why aliens are attacking their homes. Perhaps Wells wanted make humans the animals and the Martians, the expansionists of his time. One specific example of this is when the narrator of his story sees railroad tracks and telephone wires turned into ruins. The narrator feels helpless like a small animal would and at one point feels equal to animals. The invaders’ intentions are shown as no different from the people of his time and even people today.  Wells does a great job of making readers really question if they are as sophisticated and superior as they think. Even today one should still consider this warning and check their egos and intentions.  

            Both stories conveyed H. G. Wells’ warnings very well to the readers of his time. He made them think about religion, technology, how they treat others, and gives them a gut check. Even today, his warnings meant for others about 150 years ago still hold relevant and true.