"For countless centuries Mars has been the star of war."(Wells 3) .
Having mastered interplanetary travel, it is obvious to see that the Martians are technically superior to humans. "The Martians seem to have calculated their descent with amazing subtlety--their mathematical learning is evidently far in excess of ours--and to have carried out their preparations with a well-nigh perfect unanimity."(Wells 3) Wells warns the British not to be blinded by their perceived greatness. "They are dangerous because, no doubt, they are mad with terror, perhaps they thought they expected to find no living things - certainly no intelligent living things."(Wells 13) .
Upon further inspection of their appearance, the Martians have skinny tentacles coming out of their mouth. "In a group round the mouth were sixteen slender, almost whiplike tentacles."(Wells 75) These tentacles symbolize Britain's ability to project its military power. This view of the Martians parallels the mercantilist attitude held by the British at that time. India was at the time, under British control. The British used India for its vast natural resources and then left it. Along with this image of monsters, the novel portrays the Martians as Vampires. "They took the fresh, living blood of other creatures, and injected it into their own veins."(Wells 75) Wells found Britain's colonial policy cruel and immoral. Like the vampires of folklore or the Martians in this book, Britain exploited her colonies of their riches, food, and people. This view parallels the British treatment of her Colonies. Britain treated her colonists like slaves, sucking the blood out of the land, leaving the colony starving and poor. .
The Martians were also technologically dependent. Without their machines they were physically weak. The Martians could have been run back from wince they came by a mob armed with boards with nails in them. H.G. Wells noticed a trend in England of people relying more and more on manufactured goods and technology.
