In The War of the Worlds the narrator spots an old shriveled guy who is carrying a box full of flower pots that contained orchids from his garden. The narrator grips onto his arm and says to him "Death is coming! " The old man is then frightened by what the narrator says to him. With all the commotion going on and with everyone evacuating from their homes that it is just upsetting the narrator. This upsets him because all they care about is getting their valuables from their homes and bringing it with them to wherever they are off too. Some people even died just bringing a few of their belongings that didn't help their survival in this invasion. All the commotion and such is still upsetting the narrator because if people just listened to him and didn't panic so much that the Martians could hear and attack them with its heat rays that maybe they would be a lot more safe then how they are acting now.
The old man is so intent on saving his flowers because they probably hold a special memory of something to him. You may not know why he had taken the flowers with him and not something that could possibly protect him like a gun or such but those orchids probably meant something a lot to him. The orchids could possibly be the only thing he had left from his wife who could've past away or just not be with him anymore. You could never know. I know I would do the same if I lost a family member or my boyfriend. I'd just keep the object that they gave to me the last time I saw them or just keep a picture of them with me for as long as I live because I love them. The orchids could possibly be the only thing he had left from or of his wife and he could've loved her dearly and just never want to lose those because if he loses those orchids then it's like losing the only thing he had left of the one thing he has loved the most.
This scene is significant in the story because its shows that the narrator is finally speaking out towards the crowd and he wants to help and protect them from the dangers of the mighty Martians.