The War of the Worlds: Book 1, Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

In the morning, the narrator and the artilleryman set out together, traveling north in order to avoid the third cylinder, which lies between Woking and Leatherhead. In their travels, they pass a group of cavalry soldiers who tell them to travel to Weybridge so that the artilleryman can report to a military official. On their way, they come upon another group of soldiers, this one with hidden guns pointed toward Woking. In Byfleet, they see that the soldiers are having a difficult time convincing residents to flee the area. “Do you know what’s over there?” the narrator says to one man who seems particularly hesitant to leave behind his possessions. The man tries to explain that his belongings are valuable, but the narrator cuts him off, yelling, “Death! Death is coming! Death!”

Upon reaching Weybridge, the narrator and artilleryman can’t find the military headquarters amidst the chaos of confused pedestrians and eager traffic. Moving on, they try to cross the Thames River—a difficult endeavor, since there aren’t enough boats to ferry everybody across. At that moment, a “muffled thud” sounds in the distance, and then the narrator hears gunfire. At once, four Martian machines arrive, destroying everything in their path. Aware of the Heat-Ray, the narrator instructs everybody to jump into the water. Just as the nearest machine is about to use its Heat-Ray, one of the large guns operated by soldiers finally hits its target, smashing the hood of the machine and sending it whirling down. In its descent, it decimates a church before falling into the river. 

When the fighting machine hits the water, the Heat-Ray sends massive quantities of steam into the air and creates an enormous wave of blisteringly hot water. The other three Martian machines approach, and the narrator dives deep underwater. When he emerges for air, he sees that the fighting machines have crowded around their fallen comrade. People take this opportunity to get out of the river and run into the woods, but one of the machines smites them with its Heat-Ray, which swoops across the river and creates another large wave. In the scalding water, the narrator rushes to the bank and falls down, where he lies incapacitated and exposed, expecting “nothing but death.” He vaguely remembers a Martian machine walking right by his head as it carries—along with the other two machines—its fallen comrade. Then all is quiet, and he realizes he has survived.