The scientist is an idealistic and when the anarchist paid so much interest into what he was doing he started to show off. He spoke about his new cholera which is very harmful to a man he has just met, which is indeed not a clever thing to do is. The scientist is an idealist and is out to do well in the world and improve living conditions of people. The scientist is not a man out to make money, just simply wants to be famous.
When the chase is on it was funny to see the ridiculousness of this rabbit hunt round London. Even though this story had some seriousness behind it there was a lot of farcical laughter in this chase. Even the thoughtlessness and gullibility of the scientist not realising that a stranger would pay so much attention to some bacteria.
The anarchist is very absurd into thinking that by drinking the potion that he would be able to infect the whole population in the story it says, “He went walking down Waterloo Bridge jostling as many people as possible trying to infect them”. The real blow must have come to the anarchist when he realises that that was the wrong phial. We know that this is true as the scientist says,” it is a phial which turns things blue so that is the only thing he will achieve”.
The two characters in the story who are set on big ideas are the Scientist and the anarchist. The scientist is pompous and idealistic and likes the sound of his own voice, as he kept on talking about the bacillus.
The anarchist is high flown and self-important, there is a bit of self pity and neglect but then again he is pathetic and can’t seek attention in any other way. There is definitely an element of frustration in his life as no-one listens to his ideas or what he has to say this is partly the reason why he wants to cause chaos with the stolen bacillus. We know this as it says, “The world shall hear of him at last. All those people who laughed neglected him and preferred other people to him will consider him now”.
The characters in the story who show reality are the wife of the scientist and the cabbies.
The wife is very down to earth she is more concerned about the way they look in public. We know this because when she caught up with her husband she had brought him his shoes and jacket. Another example of her wanting to make sure that they are dressed appropriately in public is when they saw someone they knew coming towards them. She wanted the scientist to put on his coat on a hot summers day. When he refused she became frustrated.
The cabbies are another group of people in this story which shows the reality that this story is set in with their harsh cockney accents and they just represent the everyday people in this story. The scientist has to rely on people which would be classed as inferior to save the predicament he put himself in. These cabbies bring a lot of humour to the story.
In this story H.G Wells is trying to get the point across those politicians and scientists aren’t as clever as they think they are and they also take themselves to seriously and so therefore make mistakes. In the Victorian era they believed they could improve man though industrial advancement this was achieved by individual successes like the scientist and through agreed religious ideas.
