# IV: The Death of the Curate explained — The War of the Worlds

> Chapter companion for The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

The narrator, trapped in a ruined house with the curate, struggles to maintain order as the curate's sanity deteriorates. After days of conflict over food and noise, the curate's loud ranting attracts a Martian handling-machine. In a desperate attempt to silence him, the narrator strikes the curate with a meat chopper, killing him. The Martian's tentacle explores the cellar, narrowly missing the narrator, who hides in terror for days before finally emerging.

## Themes in this chapter

### Survival and Instinct

The narrator's primal fear drives him to kill the curate and hide from the Martian, prioritizing his own survival over companionship.

### Human Vulnerability and Vanity

The curate's religious delusions and the narrator's violent desperation highlight human fragility and the collapse of reason under extreme stress.

### Alienation and Otherness

The narrator's isolation with the insane curate and the alien Martian presence underscore the theme of estrangement from humanity and the familiar.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Desperately tries to keep the curate quiet and ration food; kills the curate to prevent detection by Martians; hides in coal cellar as Martian tentacle explores.

### The Curate

Descends into madness, raving about divine punishment and threatening to shout; is struck and killed by the narrator with a meat chopper.

### The Martians

A Martian handling-machine investigates the house after hearing the curate's shouts; its tentacle explores the cellar and nearly touches the narrator.

## Key lines

> With one last touch of humanity I turned the blade back and struck him with the butt.

In a final act of mercy, I reversed the chopper and hit him with the handle instead of the blade.

_The narrator's conflicted morality in a life-or-death moment._

> It was like a black worm swaying its blind head to and fro.

The tentacle moved like a sightless worm, groping in the darkness.

_Vivid imagery of the Martian's alien and terrifying nature._

> I whispered passionate prayers for safety.

I fervently begged for deliverance under my breath.

_The narrator's desperation and reliance on faith in a moment of extreme peril._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_war_of_the_worlds_se/chapters/iv-the-death-of-the-curate
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_war_of_the_worlds_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_war_of_the_worlds_se/chapters