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The Narrator’s Wife
An astronomer who first tells the narrator about the strange explosions seen on Mars in the days leading up to the alien invasion. Ogilvy invites the narrator one night to view the anomaly through his telescope, and the narrator witnesses a “reddish flash at the edge” of the planet. Although neither he nor Ogilvy know it at the time, this flash is caused by the launching of the Martians’ cylinders, which have already begun their journey to earth. When the narrator asks Ogilvy about the probability of alien life existing, the astronomer says, “The chances against anything man-like on Mars are a million to one.” He also tells the narrator that any living being from Mars would be unable to survive on Earth due to vast differences in the planets’ gravitational fields. Despite his assuredness, Ogilvy is one of the first humans to die when the Martians arrive. In an attempt to communicate with the aliens, he and a small group of men—including Henderson, a journalist from London—approach the cylinder while waving a white flag. In response, the Martians decimate the men with Heat-Ray guns, instantly burning them to a char. However, this doesn’t stop the narrator from relaying Ogilvy’s ideas about gravity to his wife at dinner that night, even though it’s rather clear that the astronomer was wrong to underestimate these extraordinary beings.
Ogilvy Quotes in The War of the Worlds
The The War of the Worlds quotes below are all either spoken by Ogilvy or refer to Ogilvy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1, Chapter 7
Quotes
I began to comfort her and myself by repeating all that Ogilvy had told me of the impossibility of the Martians establishing themselves on the earth. In particular I laid stress on the gravitational difficulty. On the surface of the earth the force of gravity is three times what it is on the surface of Mars. A Martian, therefore, would weigh three times more than on Mars, albeit his muscular strength would be the same. His own body would be a cope of lead to him. That, indeed, was the general opinion. Both the Times and the Daily Telegraph, for instance, insisted on it the next morning, and both overlooked, just as I did, two obvious modifying influences. […]
But I did not consider these points at the time, and so my reasoning was dead against the chances of the invaders. With wine and food, the confidence of my own table, and the necessity of reassuring my wife, I grew by insensible degrees courageous and secure.
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Ogilvy Quotes in The War of the Worlds
The The War of the Worlds quotes below are all either spoken by Ogilvy or refer to Ogilvy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1, Chapter 7
Quotes
I began to comfort her and myself by repeating all that Ogilvy had told me of the impossibility of the Martians establishing themselves on the earth. In particular I laid stress on the gravitational difficulty. On the surface of the earth the force of gravity is three times what it is on the surface of Mars. A Martian, therefore, would weigh three times more than on Mars, albeit his muscular strength would be the same. His own body would be a cope of lead to him. That, indeed, was the general opinion. Both the Times and the Daily Telegraph, for instance, insisted on it the next morning, and both overlooked, just as I did, two obvious modifying influences. […]
But I did not consider these points at the time, and so my reasoning was dead against the chances of the invaders. With wine and food, the confidence of my own table, and the necessity of reassuring my wife, I grew by insensible degrees courageous and secure.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
