AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

   

THE MARTIANS AS THE REPRESENTATION OF

  th

THE 19 CENTURY BRITISH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION’S

DYNAMIC REVEALED IN H.G. WELLS’

  

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

  

By

PUTU RIZKI SAPUTRA

Student Number: 044214037

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

  

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2010

  

 

   

THE MARTIANS AS THE REPRESENTATION OF

  th

THE 19 CENTURY BRITISH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION’S

DYNAMIC REVEALED IN H.G. WELLS’

  

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

  

By

PUTU RIZKI SAPUTRA

Student Number: 044214037

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

  

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2010

  i

   

  ii

   

  iii

   

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : PUTU RIZKI SAPUTRA Nomor Mahasiswa : 044214037 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya berjudul:

  TH

THE MARTIANS AS THE REPRESENTATION OF THE 19 CENTURY

BRITISH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION’S DYNAMIC REVEALED IN

H.G. WELLS’ THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

  beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

  Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal 10 Mei 2010

  Yang menyatakan

  (PUTU RIZKI SAPUTRA) iv

   

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

  th

  This Thesis entitled “The Martians as the Representation of the 19 Century British Industrial Revolution’s Dynamic Revealed in H.G. Wells’ The

  

War of the Worlds ” is purely made by the thesis writer. In other words, all ideas,

  all phrases, and all sentences, unless otherwise stated, are ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands the full consequences including degree cancelation if he took somebody else’s ideas, phrases, or sentences without proper references.

  Yogyakarta, May 10, 2010 Putu Rizki Saputra v

   

As We Beg, Steal, And Borrow

Life Is Hit And Miss

  

(OASIS)

  vi

   

For the Past who Supports Me

For the Future who Believes Me

  vii

   

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I want to give my thanks and praise first for the Lord Jesus Christ who helped me made this thesis. This thesis is dedicated to my beloved parents, Mr.

  Gde Putu Waspada and Mrs. Sri Hardani who teach me parts of this life, give me love and support me fully so that I can be here. I also thank my sister Maria Ni Ayu Risma Novianti who always helps me doing some duties I do not want to do.

  I realize that this thesis would not be done without the helps given by Ms. Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. who became my advisor and her enlightenment helped me patiently in this thesis. I would also give my thanks to Ms. Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. who became my co-advisor for her support and suggestion. I know that I owe them much for their willingness to spare their time to completing this thesis.

  I also give thanks to my lovely Yoseva Yona Muliyati who always loves, supports and understand me patiently so that I can complete this thesis. I would also give my gratitude for all of best nice friends: Krisna, Rano, Krista, Krisman, Nico, Irwan, Rochim, Edward Sutet, Nanang Wedhus (I did it, Bro!!!), Ison Trafo, Veme Letoy, dek Martha, Susan, Caca, Diah, Dinar Jenong, Monic, Eka Genius, Ucok Alpred, and Jojo Item for supporting me from the beginning. I also do not forget my friends: Siswanto 612, Sonny, Jati, Patrick Pace, Amel, Elin, Dita Solo, Dede, Corry, Intan, Iren, Astrid, Tini, Adisty, Lutfi, Dita Ndut, Sheilla, Novi, Sisca, Lisis, Indri, Rani, Sari, and Pita for being my nice classmates; and also Mbak Ninik for helping me much from her beloved Loket Sekretariat Sastra

  

Inggris . I would also thank my KKN friends: Paul, Ririt, Vero, Pandu, Nila, Nino,

  viii

   

  and Cinta; thanks to my friends: Meme, Milka, Jopi, and Reli; my friends in Puppet Show English Letters USD, Marsya Timoty futsal team, The Masque of the Red Death (2007), String Movie Maniacs, The Importance of Being Earnest (2008), Grease the Musical (2009), JAKSA 2006, and POTLUCK PARTY 2006. Without them all, I am sure there will not be ‘Putu’, ‘Rizki’, ‘Kiki’, or ‘Kuman’ like today.

  Putu Rizki Saputra ix

   

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  

TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………... i

APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………………. ii

ACCEPTENCE PAGE ……………………………………………………... iii

MOTTO PAGE …………………………………………………………….... vi

DEDICATION PAGE ..................................................................................... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………....viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………….... x

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………... xi

ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………… xii

  

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………….. 1

A. Background of the Study ………………………………………… 1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………... 3 C. Objectives of the Study …………………………………………... 3 D. Definition of Terms ………………………………………………. 4

CHAPTER II: THORETICAL REVIEW ………………………………... 5

A. Review of Related Studies ………………………………………. 5 B. Review of Related Theories ……………………………………… 7 th

  C. Century Industrial Review on the British Society in the 19

  Revolution ………………………………………………………... 11 D. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………… 15

  

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……………………………………….. 17

A. Object of the Study ………………………………………………. 17 B. Approach of the Study …………………………………………… 18 C. Method of the Study …………………………………………….. 19

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………………….. 21

A. The Description of the Martians …………………………………. 21 th B.

  Century British The Martians as the Representation of the 19

  Industrial Revolution’s Dynamic ….…………………………...... 35

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……………………………………………. 57

BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………... 64

APPENDIX ………………………………………………………………….. 66

The Summary of Herbert George Wells’ the War of the Worlds …….. 66

  x

   

ABSTRACT

  PUTU RIZKI SAPUTRA (2010). The Martians as the Representation of the

  th

19 Century British Industrial Revolution’s Dynamic Revealed in H.G.

  

Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters,

Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

  

The War of the Worlds written by Herbert George Wells is a novel that represents

th

  the 19 century British industrial revolution. The author created the characters of

  th

  the Martians to make a representation of what happened in Britain during the 19 century British industrial revolution. Through this novel, Wells criticized the conditions happened during that time. This study is intended to analyze and answer two questions. The first question is about the description of the Martians through the setting, its physical and mental traits. The second question is about the representation of the Martians toward the

  th dynamic that the 19 century British industrial revolution had.

  This study was composed by using library research method that used the novel

  

The War of the Worlds as the primary data and some books contains of criticism

  on the novel, literary theories, and historical reviews of the novel as the secondary data. This study used the theory of character and characterization, theory of setting, theory on society in the novel, and the relation between literature and

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  society. The review of the 19 century British industrial revolution was used to help the understanding of the society at that time that became the background of this study. This study applied the sociocultural-historical approach that supported

  th

  the writer to analyze the condition during the 19 century British industrial revolution deeper. The first analysis of this study shows that the Martians were creatures who had big and fast bodies that could kill people and destroy buildings in instant. They also had positive mental traits such as: workaholic, highly productive, intelligent, disciplined, and well organized. However the Martians also had negative mental traits such as: brutal, evil, had no mood and emotion, and greedy. The second

  th

  analysis of this study shows how the Martians represented the dynamic of the 19 century British industrial revolution in both mental and physical. This analysis shows that the Martians’ representation occurred in the positive mental

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  characteristics of 19 century British industrial revolution such as: discipline, intelligent, well organized, fast and efficient, workaholic, and high productive. While the negative mental characteristics were: the roles equality in job proportion between men and women, brute and evil that came to the exploitations, have no mood and emotion, see things only by its goodness and badness, and greed. The physical traits that were represented by the Martians were the increasing number of modern factories built, the machinery happened in factories,

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  and environmental destructions as the consequences of the 19 century British industrial revolution. xi

   

ABSTRAK

  PUTU RIZKI SAPUTRA (2010). The Martians as the Representation of the

  th

19 Century British Industrial Revolution’s Dynamic Revealed in H.G.

  

Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas

Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Novel The War of the Worlds yang ditulis oleh Herbert George Wells adalah sebuah novel yang merepresentasikan revolusi industri Inggris pada abad 19. Sang pengarang menciptakan karakter Martian untuk merepresentasikan apa yang terjadi di Inggris selama revolusi industri pada abad 19. Melalui novel ini, Wells mengkritik kondisi yang terjadi pada waktu itu. Studi ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis dan menjawab dua pertanyaan. Pertanyaan pertama mengenai deskripsi Martian baik karakteristik fisik maupun mental. Pertanyaan kedua mengenai representasi melalui setting, deskripsi fisik dan mental Martian terhadap dinamika yang dimiliki oleh revolusi industri Inggris pada abad 19. Dengan menggunakan studi pustaka, novel The War of the Worlds digunakan sebagai data primer dan beberapa buku yang mengandung teori-teori sastra, beberapa kritik dan ulasan mengenai novel tersebut digunakan sebagai data sekunder. Studi ini mengunakan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori setting, teori masyarakat dalam novel, dan hubungan antara karya sastra dengan masyarakat. Ulasan mengenai revolusi industri Inggris abad 19 digunakan untuk membantu penulis dalam memahami masyarakat pada masa itu yang menjadi latar belakang studi ini. Studi ini menerapkan pendekatan sosial budaya-sejarah yang membantu penulis menganalisa lebih dalam kondisi yang terjadi selama revolusi industri Inggris pada abad 19. Analisa pertama studi ini menunjukkan bahwa Martian adalah makhluk bertubuh besar, dan cepat yang dapat membunuh manusia serta merusak bangunan dengan mudah. Mereka juga memiliki kepribadian positif seperti: gila pekerjaan, produktifitas tinggi, pandai, disiplin, dan terorganisir dengan baik. Tetapi mereka juga mempunyai kepribadian negatif seperti: kejam, jahat, tidak memiliki mood dan emosi, dan tamak. Analisa kedua studi ini menunjukkan bagaimana Martian merepresentasikan dinamika yang dimiliki oleh revolusi industri Inggris pada abad 19 baik secara fisik dan mental. Analisa menunjukkan bahwa Martians merepresentasikan kepribadian positif seperti: disiplin, pandai, terorganisir dengan baik, cepat dan efisien, gila bekerja, dan produktifitas tinggi. Sedangkan representasi kepribadian negatifnya berupa: persamaan proporsi kerja antara pria dan wanita, kekejaman dan kejahatan yang berujung pada eksploitasi, tidak memiliki mood dan emosi, menilai hal-hal dari segi baik dan buruknya saja, dan tamak. Karakteristik fisik yang direpresentasikan oleh Martian adalah meningkatnya jumlah pabrik modern yang dibangun, penggunaan mesin di pabrik, dan kerusakan lingkungan akibat dari revolusi industri Inggris pada abad 19. xii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Some people have different understanding about what literature is. Most of

  them argue that literature has a relationship to art. People say that they can make literature as the expression of their feeling, vision, and idea. They can write what they have in the form of short story, novel, poetry, and drama. Of course, writing literature is a complex and creative process. The writer should make it best so that readers can understand what the writer wants to tell about. Literary works have some intrinsic elements, such as theme, character, setting, plot, and point of view. Besides, literary works also have some extrinsic elements such as the historical background, the cultural, social and political aspects.

  There are some writers write their literary works that represented the conditions happened in their environments. One of the writers was H.G. Wells, the popular British writer in the nineteen century. He had written many beautiful novels that made him famous. Some of his novels are The Time Machine (1895), The Island

  

of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds

  (1898). H.G. Wells was the pioneer of ‘Science-Fiction’. Some of Wells’ novels have ‘Science-Fiction’ genre such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The

  War of the Worlds.

  In this study, I would like to use one of Wells’ novels, The War of the

  

Worlds. The War of the Worlds is a fiction about an invasion to the Earth done by men from Mars who are called as the Martians. The setting of the novel is England in

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  the period of the 19 century industrial revolution. Here, Wells made a first person point of view novel by using a middle class writer as the narrator. The novel started by the narrator’s thought that he was worried that someday Earth would be invaded by creatures from Mars. Soon the story continued on the first coming of the Martians. Hours later, the Martian started attacking the people around him and destroyed everything around. Wells wrote his novel perfectly by using many devices of literary and scientific so that the reader can be easily enter the world inside the novel. The resistances that people did against the Martian seemed useless. The technology gap between them was too far. This way, Wells gave a description about the early time condition when the industrial revolution in England began.

  The invasion was continued by the coming of the other Martians. The chaos led all people moving to saver places. Wells described the bad effects of industrial revolution by using some characters, things, and events that were experienced by the narrator during his escape. The novel is very dramatic and thrilling where the narrator found some problems that could lead him to die and the way he could avoid and solve the problems. The story ended by the death of the Martians by putrefactive and disease bacteria against which their system were unprepared. The narrator himself could finally find his wife who was separated during the invasion. The resolution that Wells gave shows that even though people at that time were pushed by industrial revolution, they could survive by having adaptation to the new life and struggling hard against the pressures that caused by industrial revolution.

  The War of the Worlds becomes the object of this study because this novel is

  one of the first scientific novels. The way how the writer wrote this novel is also interesting so that readers can enjoy reading every word inside. The reason why I take the topic for this study is because I want to know the dynamic that British

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  industrial revolution in 19 century had. By reading this novel, I am sure I can find

  th the dynamic of British industrial revolution in 19 century.

  B. Problem Formulation

  Referring to the topic of the study, there are two questions that will be discussed in this study. The questions are:

  1. How are the Martians’ characteristics described in the story through the setting, physical and mental traits?

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  2. How are the Martians’ represented as the 19 century British industrial revolution’s dynamic?

  C. Objectives of the Study

  The objective of this study is trying to prove that the Martians’s characteristics and industrial revolution’s dynamic are the same. This objective can be found by answering the two questions stated in the problem formulation. First, I will find out how the Martians’ characteristic is described in the story through the setting, physical, and mental traits. Second, I will identify how the Martians’

  th characteristic is represented as 19 century British industrial revolution’s dynamic. th

  The comparison between the Martians and the 19 century British Industrial revolution is done because the same characteristics that both of them have.

D. Definition of Terms

  There is a definition of term to avoid misunderstanding in answering the problem formulation:

  1. Industrial Revolution

  H.L. Beales as quoted by M. W. Flinn in his Origins of the Industrial Revolution stated that the industrial revolution is a system that replace one social system or one civilization by another. In Britain, before it emerged, agriculture provided the economic basis of English life: after it, the basis was industry, extractive and manufacturing. A small population became large: a narrow material equipment was expanded: low standards of consumption were made more lavish: the working classes became articulate. During the industrial revolution, a civilization was based on the plough and the pasture perished – in its place stood a new order, resting, perhaps dangerously, on coal, iron and imported textile materials (1967: 3).

  2. Representation

  Stuart Hall in his Representation Cultural Representations and Signifying

  Practices said that representation is the production of the meaning of the

  concepts in our minds through language. It is the link between concepts and language which enables us to refer to either ‘real’ world of objects, people or events, or indeed to imaginary worlds of fictional objects, people and events (2003: 17).

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Herbert George Wells was one of the greatest novelists ever. Kathleen Kuiper

  in Merriam Webster’s Encyclopaedia of Literature stated that:

  H. G. Wells was an English novelist journalist, sociolinguist, and historian, best known for his science-fiction novels….. His first attempt at fiction writing was merely imitative, but he eventually set himself up as a freelance writer. Almost immediately he became a successful journalist and short story writer, the possessor of a lively and humorous style and the exponent in fiction of the relatively new subject of science (1995: 1191).

  Published in 1898, The War of the Worlds took setting in England in the last

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  years of the 19 century. H.G. Wells used his writing style that was similar to journalism. H.G. Wells analyzed his experiences when he involved in the society included social problems and changed them into the society his novel. This is as what Gascoigne stated in Encyclopedia of Britain that Wells wrote his early novels about social matters as society changing and improving (Gascoigne, 1994: 684).

  In writing this novel, H.G. Wells knew how to compose the materials he got from his experiences became a unique style that there was never been before. He composed the words into sentences that have deep meanings and contain messages that the readers have to interpret. As the result, many of his works become a must read book. As one of the greatest science-fictions novel ever, The War of the Worlds received many good criticisms.

  Arthur C.Clarke in Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! said that The War of the

  

World is one of Wells’ writing that contain full of poetry and passages that catch

  throat. Clarke also believes that this novel can surprise people who have never been read it. More over, Clarke added that in The War of the World, Wells tried to pretend that he was not an artist. He also stated that the time when every work of art serve its purpose and be benefit of its last rag of significance will come (1999).

  Another opinion about Wells was given by Marian Powell. In The Lost Book

  

Archieves, Powell stated that Wells wanted to make his reader to think and fell what

  it means to be a conquered people who are conquered and destroyed not through lack of courage or effort but simply because the enemy's technology is superior (2000).

  This novel had also ever been discussed by Timothy A. Mitchell as his thesis in the Faculty of the Graduated School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University. In his thesis, entitled It Came From Inner Space: Faith, Science,

  

Conquest And The War of the Worlds, he made a combination of historical and

  discourse analysis about how ancient cultures used languages to articulate their beliefs and to project them into the heavens and the world around them (2001: 4).

  Being different from Mitchell, this thesis will analyze the similarity of the

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  characteristic that the Martians and industrial revolution in the 19 century have. The study of the Martians in the War of the Worlds as the representation of industrial revolution has never been done yet as there is no any information shows that it had been done before.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  The description about the theory of character and characterization that Abrams said in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms stated that character is divided into two kinds, flat and round. Abrams stated that flat characters are a one- dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of work. This makes the flat characters are monotonous. On the other hand, round characters according to Abrams are complex and undergo development, sometimes the round characters sufficiently to surprise the reader (1981: 20).

  Being different with the description that Abrams stated in his book, Holman and Harmon in A Handbook of Literature stated that characterization is the creation of imaginary person so that they exist for the reader as if the people in the real life (1986: 81). While in order to understand the characteristic of a character, M.J.

  Murphy in his Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the

  

English Novel for Overseas Students stated nine important points that are needed to

  understand. They are:

  a. Personal Description The author describes the character by his/her physical appearance. The character can be thin, fat, handsome, or bad looking. The clothes can describe the character’s economical condition. The rich character can be shown by the good quality of his/her clothes. b. Character as Seen by Another The author describes the character from the eyes and opinions of the other characters’ opinion.

  c. Speech The author describes the character in the novel through hat the character says in the novel. It includes how is the character speak, whenever the character is in the conversation with another, and how the character puts forward an opinion.

  d. Past Life The author can describe the character by letting the reader know something about the past life of the character. This way can be described by direct comment from the author, the character’s thought, his/her conversation, or through the medium of the another characters.

  e. Conversation of Others The author can describe the character through his/her conversation with other character and the things they say about the character.

  f. Reactions The author can describe the character by letting the reader know how he/she reacts to various situations or events.

  g. Direct Comment The author can describe the character directly.

  h. Thought The author can describe the character by letting the reader know what the character is thinking about. i. Mannerism The author can describe the character’s manner and habits (1972: 161-171).

2. Theory of Setting

  Abrams in his book A glossary of Literary Terms stated that setting could be in two senses, which are limited sense and a large sense. In a limited sense, setting refers to the general place that is a particular physical location in which the story takes place. It also refers to the historical time that shows when the story takes place.

  In a large sense, setting refers to the social circumstances that are the situations or conditions, and environments in which the character live (1981: 175).

  Kennedy and Gioia in their book Literature: An Introduction to Fiction and

  

Drama also stated that setting of story can be divided into setting of place and setting

  of time. The idea of setting includes physical environment of a story: a house, a city, a landscape, a region and where the story takes place is sometimes called locale.

  Besides the place, setting may crucially involve the time of the story-hour, year, or a century (1999: 92).

  Robert Stanton in his book An Introduction to Fiction also added that the setting of the story is the environment of its events, the immediate world in which they occur. He also added that although the setting does not include the principal characters, it may include the people in the background (1965: 18).

  According to M.J. Murphy, setting of the novel is the background where the characters live out their lives. In some novels the setting is important, while in others it is less so. The setting can be concerned with the place in which the character live and also the time which they live. He also added that the setting has great effect upon the personalities, actions, and way of thinking of the characters (1972: 141-146).

  3. Theory on Society in the Novel

  Elisabeth Langdand says that society, as do all other aspects of novels, functions as an element in a structure that is, at least a part, self-referential. The definitions of society that explicitly and implicitly see society always as an imitation of an outside world have tended to obscure the formal variety of social presentation in novels (Langland, 1984: 4). There are two kinds of society in the novel. The first one is the society which is influenced by the outside world. Second is the society which is not influenced by the outside world. However, it is rare to find the same society between the society in the novel and in the outside world. If there is any of it, it is not exactly the same.

  Langdand also explains that society in the novel has possibilities in commenting roles and possibilities of society in outside world. She says that society in a wider sense, not merely people and their classes, but also customs, conventions, beliefs and values, their institutions - legal, religious, and cultural – and their physical environment. Briefly, society remains everything we have seen it to be – norms, conventions, codes, backgrounds, places, people, institutions – but its role within the work will determine its particular manifestation in the novel (1984: 6-7).

  4. The Relation Between Literature and Society

  Elisabeth Langdand states that the society is a kind of animation of outside world which is obscured the formal variety of the novel’s social presentation (1984: 4). The societies in the novel and in the reality are almost the same. The author describes the society in his novel based on the real society where he lives in. Langdand also states that the society in the novels does not depend on the society in the real world as it is just a refection of any concrete. The way how an author expresses his society in his novel can be as a house, city, country, institution, object, or a group of relationship through characters, patterned interactions and their common expectations of one another (1984: 5-6).

  Warren and Wellek explain that as a member of the society, the author has pronounced on questions of social and political importance which are reflected in his work. Whether it is directly or not, the author has taken part in the issues of his time (1956: 96-97). If an author presents a society based on the real world, he may reveal something inside that reflection. A novel is a result of what an author thinks, feels, and sees in the society he lives in.

  

th

Century Industrial Revolution

C. Review on the British Society in 19

  The British society in 19

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  century industrial revolution was remarkable as a great peace time. The main concern of this period of time is about accumulation of material wealth and power that the society achieved during the century. However, the achievements reached by the society at that time required prices they had to pay even it sacrificed the human life.

  As we can see that the invention of new machines at that time became a key that started the industrial revolution. The inventions made the works became faster and more efficient. The factories gained more and more profit as the increasing of goods distributions and the fulfillment of the market demands. This condition was believed as a factor that led the improvement of the society’s quality of life.

  Looking up the achievements the society reached, there were, actually, side effects that someway became ironies with the improvement of the society’s quality of life. It was all started in the early of the eighteenth century when the population in Britain increased massively. The population increased from eight millions people to about thirteen millions in 1815 and doubled in 1871 (Thomson, 1951: 11). It is

  th

  natural that every person wants to have a better life. The 19 century industrial revolution at that time gave promises to the society in Britain have a better life. Thus, there was huge urbanization in England. There were many people move to some cities and countries that became the arteries of industrial revolution such as London, Liverpool, Manchester, Lanarkshire, Durham, Lancashire, Essex, Middlesex, Kent. This condition became a problem because most of the people lived in slum areas and became unemployment. The condition at that time improved the crime rates in the cities and countries where they live in. It was a contrast if we see that the industrial revolution gave promises about a better life.

  However, the working classes had their own problems. The industrial revolution affected on the conditions of the labor and the working class. This happened as the improvement of the machines the factories used. The great bodies of manual workers, although for a long time they remained outside the new system of industry, were nevertheless almost immediately affected by its all-pervading influence (Mantoux, 1961: 399).

  The working classes at that time suffered physically and mentally in order to reach the dreams the industrial revolution offered to them. Most of it was because the human limitation compared to the machine superiority. Mantoux in his The

  

Industrial Revolution in The Eighteen Century stated that the influence at first was an

  object of fear. The struggle against machinery, and generally against all the technical improvements, is the best known incident of this whole phase of history. The workman’s sole capital being his labor and his technical skill, anything that depreciates their value deprives him of part of his only property (1961: 399). It is clear that in industrial revolution era, the working classes’ value was only on the skills and abilities they have.

  The one thing that struck the working classes was that they had to fight in an overwhelming competition with machines. Hobsbawm in his book Industry and

  

Empire stated that Industry brought the tyranny of the clock, the pace-setting

  machine, and complex and carefully-timed interaction of processes: the measurement of life was not in seasons or even in weeks and days, but in minutes, and above all a mechanized regularity of work which conflicted not only with tradition, but with all the inclinations of a humanity as yet unconditioned into it. And since men did not take spontaneously to these new ways, they had to be forced – by work discipline and fines, by Master and Servant laws such as that of 1823 which threatened them with jail for breach of contract (1969: 85-86). If they lost the fight, it was very possible for them to lose their job or, in some cases, their wages would fall.

  th

  The other bad effect of the 19 century British industrial revolution was the women and children exploitation. At that time, women and children were employed in factories with lower wages than men earned. Women and children were only given a trifling wage which varied between a third and a sixth of an adult wage, sometimes their payment was only food or lodging. For children, they were bound to the factory by indentures of apprentice-ship for at least seven years and usually until they were twenty-one (Mantoux, 1961: 410). Most children at that time under domestic system worked at home their parents’ eyes (Taylor, 1958: 35). This condition was also happened in the coal mines where there were many grief came from the depths. The improvement of production automatically required the improvement of the raw materials. Here, in the coal mines, there were many women and children worked with minimum safety. They work for more than eight hours a day with minimum wages. This happened because women and children were considered as weak workers than workmen. The children here worked to get coal from the very deep as their small body that could pass the small hole in the mines. This working condition mainly happened in smaller coal mines placed in England and Wales (Ashton, 1960: 119-120). This was one of the ironies about sacrifice for triumph.

  The rapid changes caused by industrial revolution also changed the society’s view about religion. They somehow thought that working and studying were more important than religious activity. The people, not all of them, thought that working could give them a real hope to continue their life for at least a day. The working condition that gave the people wages so low made them spending their time to work more than the time to eat, sleep and pray on Sabbath (Hobsbawm, 1969: 86). It was the same as studying. They thought that by studying they could invent a new machine that could improve the production rates in factories. T.S. Ashton in his book

  

The Industrial Revolution 1760 – 1830 said that in the industries so far considered

  the growth of production was associated with new forms of power, new machinery, or new knowledge derived from science (1960: 79).

  Another bad effect was seen in the environment they lived. The use of machines everywhere meant that people needed for fuel to operate the machines. At that time, the fuels they used were coals and woods. Before the mass used of coals, the fuel that the factory used was wood. This situation led a perfect massacre of trees.

  There were forests being cut down in order to get fuels for industry (Mantoux, 1961: 281). Besides, the machines the factories used also produced much pollution that all of them fulfill the rivers and the sky. This was happened as the mass used of coal substituting the used of woods. Homes and factories used coals as the fuel of the machines and fireplaces in home.

  The bad side effects produced by industrial revolution became the shadow in the achievements the society reached. This was an irony as they made a disaster in order to get a triumph. It was the same as Mantoux said that imperfection of social system in which an increase in production may be followed by an increase in the misery of the producers (1961: 400).

D. Theoretical Framework

  As the focus of this thesis is on the revelation of the Martians as the representation of industrial revolution’s dynamic, I use the some theories in order to get the information lead to the answers of this study. I use the theory of character and characteristic and theory of setting to find the characteristic descriptions the Martians have. The theory of character and characteristic is used to find the physical and mental traits that the character has. The theory of setting is also used to help finding the character’s traits by looking up the setting of the novel. Everything that the character did toward the setting (environment) can show the mental traits that the character has. This is the reason of why looking up the setting of the story is also important in this study.