H.G. Wells

By Illa Vij

Herbert George Wells, an English author, was born in a lower-middle class family. His father, Joseph, was a shopkeeper and his mother, Sarah, was a lady’s maid. He was born on September 21, 1886. They lived over their shop in Bremley, Kent.

As a young boy, H.G. Wells struggled constantly to improve his position. He read whatever he could find and scholarships enabled him to study at London University from where he graduated with first class honours and a degree in science. He taught biology for some time and then took up journalism. During most of his married life, he lived in his country estate, Easton Glebe, in Essex. He also had a house in London.

He and his wife, Catherine, started their married life with £ 50 between them. With Catherine’s support and his own extraordinary vitality, Wells smoothened the difficulties out of his path and gained enormous success. Catherine was a sensitive and cultured woman. She took charge of Wells’s finances and ensured that he worked without any disturbance. She also did his typing, completed his income tax forms, criticised or appreciated his work. She extended every help possible. When she died in 1927, Wells underwent a period of depression and it took him a while to get back to his writing. He also took to travelling and visited America and Russia.

Wells was a man of great moral and physical courage. During World War-II, when many of his neighbours disappeared into the countryside, Wells refused to move out. He even defied superstitions by choosing number 13 for his house while living at his country estate. Wells enjoyed throwing weekend parties.

He had no fixed timings for writing. He designed a special sleeping suit so that even if he woke up at night, with an urge to write, he could do so without feeling cold. At times, he wrote through the night and slept at dawn. Besides his wit and an impressive personality, Wells imagination made him one of the greatest scientific seers of his time. Wells had envisaged the tank and war in air long before they took shape. He also gave marvellous description of a H-bomb explosion.

The War of the Worlds was turned into an American radio dramatisation in October 1938. It frightened thousands of listeners because the invasion from Mars seemed so realistic. H.G. Wells wrote of space travellers, when the very idea seemed ridiculous. His half a dozen scientific novels foresaw the future and also carried a message for mankind.

Wells’s novel Ann Veronica anticipated the liberated, educated and self-reliant young woman, when any talk of women’slib was revolutionary. This novel helped women to get the same rights as men. He wrote against monarchy and wanted to replace it with a republic. Most of his views on the political and social structure, annoyed a large part of the nation; but Wells did not believe in hypocrisy. He spoke and wrote with frankness, even if it disturbed many. Amongst all the books that he wrote, Outline of History became his greatest contribution. It was translated into over 20 languages and was bought by more than two million readers.

Along with his son Geoffrey and Sir Julian Huxely, he wrote The Science of Life. He wrote about his life in Experiment in Autobiography. His novels dealing with the contemporary society include Marriage, Joan and Peter, the Research Magnificent. A moving war novel was Mr Brithing Sees it through.The most fascinating thing about Wells was that he did whatever he considered right. He once said, "I do not care whether I am crowned king or starving in the gutter — I follow my own leading" By leading he meant beliefs. He died in August, 1946, at the age of 79.