What is there of interest to a twenty-first century reader in the 'stolen bacillus' by H.G.Wells?

Alasdair Naisbitt

What is there of interest to a twenty-first century reader in the ‘stolen bacillus’ by H.G.Wells?

It is still of interest to read H.G.Wells' short story about the stolen bacillus for a number of reasons. As it was written in 1894, the use of language is different to that of today. The way that the bacteriologist reacts to finding the bacterium missing is very different to how someone would react in a surprised fashion now a days. The bacteriologist cries out ‘blue ruin!’ which is an expression that we would never hear today. However, we would probably still use the same number of words, for example, ‘Jesus Christ!’ This is possibly the most commonly used expression in surprise other than swear words.

The language used in this period of history is also sometimes used today. Examples of this use of language can be found in the way that the cab drivers miss letters in their words. It is today called a ‘cockney’ accent. It is basically London slang. ‘That’s ‘Arry ‘Icks. Wot’s he got?’ This is an example of the sort of language used by the cab drivers in those days.

The situations that people found themselves in during that period of history are also different. The fact that a deadly disease had been stolen does not seem to worry the bacteriologist’s wife. She seems to think that the most important thing is that her husband is wearing his coat and hat. These days we probably wouldn’t feel embarrassed if we walked out into the streets of London wearing pajamas. People would probably think that it was the new fashion!

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The technology that was available at that time was very different to that of today. Children in these modern times are taught how to use microscopes as part of the basic understanding of biology. Back then in 1894, the anarchist would of only ever heard of such things, ‘the pale-faced man peered down the microscope. I see very little, he said.’ This is a quotation at the start of the story where the anarchist looks down the microscope but does not know how to use it. It shows the anarchist has never been taught how to use a microscope, which shows how new the invention is. The use of a glass slide under the microscope is still used today but it shows that we also never lose some things with time. Also, the water system in London today is very hard to access today unlike in 1894 where there is an open reservoir, open to pollution. It shows how far we have come in technology in such a short period of time. The fact that the cholera germ is being bottled, even at that period of history is odd as the fact that we still use the same basic method today, even though we now have access to much more secure and hygienic storage facilities.

The anarchist is a very devious person. The way that he manages to get himself into the bacteriologist’s laboratory is very clever but could easily be done by anyone. The way he managed to take his opportunity of taking the live cholera germ is masterful in his own eyes. He thinks so highly of himself and yet thinks that he world is against him because of his brilliance. Theses people are very odd. The way that they seem to want to get back at the world because of all the pain and suffering it has given them is strange. Some of them just want to kill a policeman, taking their own life with them, whereas others want to poison the water supply of London, all this just to be recognized as one of the brilliant minds of the world. Unfortunately, they haven’t got a clue. They are so full of their arrogance that they seem to forget that people are not actually plotting against them; they want to think that they are being victimized.

At the beginning of the 20th century more and more people were starting to think more individually instead of rich and important people doing it for them and it was around this time that many more anarchists who believed in many different and unusual ethics. This was probably due to the fact that there were many political movements going on at that point in history. The reader can relate to this because today, there are a lot more people who believe in new and ‘out of this world’ things.

The husband and wife relationship in this story is peculiar. It seems that in this couple, the wife is the more dominant figure. When the wife calls for the bacteriologist, he goes straight away, even though he is busy working. When he runs outside to try and catch the anarchist, his wife runs out after him because he has left the house wearing only his carpet slippers and his velveteen coat. I feel that Minnie, his wife, is defiantly the more dominant person of the couple as she doesn’t seem to care that her husband has just let an anarchist steal a deadly batch of cholera and the bad things that he could do with it.

The water supply is new to London at this time and for a reader today, there is some interest to know that people thought of it as very important to their health. The bacteriologist is desperate to retrieve, what the reader thinks is the cholera germ but is not really, as we later find out, off the anarchist because he wants to protect the city from any danger whereas nowadays you wouldn’t of given it a thought to stop a maniac running lose with a deadly germ.

Wells’ story telling technique involves humour like the twist in the ending where the anarchist drinks the cholera germ thinking that he will die from infection and poison the water supply of London whereas actually he has taken a bacteria that will turn him blue. It comes very suddenly at the end of the story and the fact that he is given the wrong impression as to what is contained in the bottle makes it humorous.

The characters that Wells uses are people that Wells is trying to make seem common Londoners of the time. The bacteriologist is a very kind person because whenever his wife asks to speak to him, he is never rude by telling her to go away because he is busy. He is also very kind to the anarchist by letting him look at the germ under a microscope and showing him how to use the microscope with no sense of anger or annoyance being portrayed at all because he knows that most people don’t know how to use such an instrument. During the whole story, the bacteriologist never shows any anger at either himself or anyone else, even though he was stupid enough to leave the anarchist alone with the germ.

Minnie gives the sense that she is the bossy type by the way that she treats her husband as if he was a young child, making sure that he wears his coat and shoes whenever he goes outside, for the main reason that he may cause embarrassment to her or him.