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The Food of the Gods And How It Came to Earth

Language: English

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Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons

Published: Jan 2, 1904

Page Count: 445

Description:

2337. THE FOOD OF THE GODS. Macmillan; London,

1904. Scribner; New York, 1904.

1904) A medley: a science-fiction idea, the class

struggle, an allegory of progress, satire on human

pettiness, a lachrymose social novel, etc. * The

basis of the story is a chemical that changes the

growth pattern in all life forms from an intermittent

process to a steady development, causing giantism.

Once used, the chemical is necessary to life,

and its effects are hereditary. * The biologists

Redford and Bensington develop such a chemical that

is effective during the early stages of life, resulting

in life forms that are about six or seven times

their normal size. The professors call their discovery

Herakleaphorbia, but, when publicized, it is

generally known as boomfood. * The chemical soon

makes its effects known around the laboratory at Urshot,

for although the professors intended to experiment

only with giant hens, enough of the chemical

was scattered to affect local wildlife. There are

rats the size of hounds and wasps the size of owls,

to say nothing of aggressive vegetation. These must

be exterminated, of course, and Cossar, an engineer

friend of the scientists, takes the lead in hunting

down the monsters. * Even more serious is the influence

of Herakleaphorbia on human life. Redford uses

it to speed the growth of his sickly son, and Cossar,

with his share, deliberately sets out to create

a race of monstrous humans. During the initial experimental

stage a third party also obtains the chemical.

This is Mrs. Skinner, the caretaker's wife,

who steals some of the chemical and feeds it to her

grandson (young Cuddles) and also carelessly spills

some about. * About twenty years pass, during which

others manufacture the chemical and use it, though

not as extensively as might be expected. During

this time boomfood has created problems. The chemical

stays active when passed on from one life form

to another, and there have been small epidemics of

gigantism among vegetation, insects, and other small

life forms. * By now there about sixty human giants,

all males, except for a princess from a foreign

land, who has been kept ignorant of the existence of

other giants. Their food capacity is enormous, and

even their passage along a road will damage it severely.

* The normal people react slowly to the giants,

but with increasing hostility. At first the

giants are treated as a curiosity; then as a potential

nuisance; then as an active danger. Roads are

closed to them, and their movements are severely

limited by law. Eventually there arises a strong

reactionary movement that works to destroy them, and

with the election of the politician Caterham the war

is about to begin. * The story treats the giants in

three variables: the simple, almost helpless Cuddles

giant created by Mrs. Skinner; the thoughtful, sensitive

son of Redford; and the activist Cossar giants,

who have inherited the drive, acumen, courage,

and indomitableness of their father. * The Cuddles

boy is pathetic. Reared on the charity of a neighborhood

"philanthropist" of a nasty sort, he has

been set to work in a chalk quarry, where he labors

perpetually in exchange for food and clothing. No

attempt has been made to educate or socialize him,

and he is treated like an economic force (machinery).

But he gradually awakes, and when fully mature

rebels. (The allegory here becomes obvious.)

He stops working, disregards the quarantine notice

against giants, and sets out for London, where he

marvels in an unlettered way at what he sees. A

confrontation arises between him and the forces of

the newly elected Caterham government, and he is

shot down by the police. * Redford's giant son meets

the foreign princess, who comes to England (manner

not disclosed), and they fall in love. It is obvious

that, if not prevented, they will start a race

of giants, and this, above all, is what the normals

do not want to happen. * The sons of Cossar have set

up their establishment— as a metaphor for the risen

worker— in a gigantic combination fort and workshop.

They have made weapons for themselves, for

Cossar has foreseen the inevitable racial clash; as

a result they are not totally unprepared for the

attack that will be launched by Caterham. * The war

between giants and normals suddenly breaks out.

About a dozen giants are killed, but the remainder,

taking shelter in the Cossar establishment, begin a

counterattack. This consists of bombarding the normals

with cans of boomfood. * This tactic is unanswerable,

for once taken, boomfood must be continued,

or one dies, and the environment will be totally

affected. * In a panic Caterham asks for a truce,

sending a prisoner, the now elderly Redford, as an

emissary to the giants. Caterham offers the surviving

giants sanctuary somewhere in the empire, but

with the proviso that no more giants will be produced,

either chemically or by birth. This would

result in the extinction of the race once the present

members die. * As Redford hoped, the giants

reject the offer. The giants recognize themselves

as a superior race in all respects, and intend, via

boomfood and breeding, to take over the world. The

story ends with very stuffy perorations by the various

giants as they vow to continue the war, even

though they may die in it. * The outcome is not

spelled out, but presumably the world will be so

saturated with boomfood that normals will have to

take it to survive against nature. There will be

giants, willy-nilly. Once a revolution begins, it

cannot be halted. * By no means as well thought out

as is the usual case with Wells, with many logical

and scientific loopholes. In idea, rather odd,

since it assumes that largeness per se means superiority.

Metabolic and bone structure limitations

are ignored. * xAs a novel, accepting its parabolic

intent, a disappointment, with long passages of rant

and prolonged episodes of social satire. While

Wells probably wrote the story as a plea for quality

and equality, a modern is likely to see it as describing

a potential master race ruthlessly determined

to exterminate a feebler people.