Engl 1101 – H.G. Wells Biography

ENGL 1101 – Composition and Rhetoric

March 18, 2016

H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells was a famous author known for many books. His work mostly focused on science fiction and socialist views. The majority of his famous work focused on the future and what it may bring for mankind. His work inspired many to pick up pen and paper to write. Also, some of his books were adapted in movies for millions of people to enjoy. H.G. Wells was a famous author whose work has stood the test of time and has been an inspiration to many.

H.G. Wells was born September 21, 1866, in Bromley, England. His full name was Herbert George Wells. He was born into a family that was at poverty level. His mother was Sarah Neil, who was a maid, and his father was Joseph Wells, who worked as a shopkeeper. He had a passion for reading at a young age. His family had trouble financially keeping him in school. He worked as an apprentice to a draper in his early teens. Eventually he won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in South Kensington, London.

His interest in science began to decrease, and he started to be more involved in literary pursuits. He decided to leave school at the age of twenty-one to become a teacher at The Holt Academy. While teaching there, a pupil injured him and ruptured his kidney. He suffered illnesses from this for many years afterwards. For several years he lived with hardly any money at all as he pursued his writing career. He took various teaching jobs, worked as a book reviewer, and a drama critic.

In 1891, when he felt more financially stable, he married his cousin, Isabel. H.G. Wells unfortunately was not a faithful man to his wife. They would eventually get a divorce, and he would marry a woman named Amy Robbins. They had two sons together during their marriage. Their marriage would last until the end of life even though he would continue to still have affairs. Wells also had two other children by two different women.

In 1895, he published The Time Machine, which would make him famous. It was about a scientist who created a time machine and traveled to the future to see the fate of mankind. His work would be compared to that of Jules Verne, which he did not care for the comparison. His next novel to be published was The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1896. This book dealt with the efforts of a scientist to implant human traits into animals. In 1897, The Invisible Man was published. His most famous novel, The War of the Worlds, was published in 1898.

Many of his works of science fiction have been adapted into movies or radio broadcasts over the years. The War of the Worlds, was adapted into a live radio broadcast in 1938. It was announced as if a true alien invasion was happening on earth as every one was listening. The newspapers at the time said that it had caused panic in the streets because people had believed it to be real. Articles today dispute that fact and say that no panic ever occurred. Wells even went on to write several scientific essays and predictions about the future. He was