The Food of the Gods:and How it Came to Earth

Dover Book

Text Box with description of Book

This is one bizarre book, even by H.G. Wells standards! The beginning is clearly a scathing satire on the irresponsibility of the scientific community. He says, "There is no doubt about what is not great, no race of men have such obvious littleness. They live so far as their human intercourse goes, in a narrow world; their researches involve infinite attention and an almost monastic seclusion; and what is left over is not very much."
    The two central characters are Mr. Bensington, who is bald and stooped and has very bad corns which require him to slit his boots. He has won honors for his research on More Toxic Alkaloids, and lives with his Cousin Jane. Professor Redwood "rose to eminence" (though no one remembers how) and is "addicted to tracings and curves" and began the study of the measurement of growing things. It is at this point that the two begin their work together, and concoct a formula that they think will change the world.
    And so it does.
    Mr. Bensington is able to secure an experimental farm, and he hires an old couple to assist him in feeding their new discovery to the chickens. Mrs. Skinner is a scheming old hag with one tooth and Mr. Skinner has a glass eye and a bad lisp, tho everything he thes ith written like thith. The Skinners do their job in feeding the chickens the special food, and they begin to grow, and grow and GROW. However, the Skinners are less than prudent in their responsibilities, and carelessness soon creates giant wasps that tear up puppies and giant rats that attack horses, not to mention the stinging nettles and canary creeper that soon suffocate the little farm. And Redwood and Bensington still can't see why this new discovery of theirs isn't just what the world needs.
    Up to this point, the sheer absurdity of it all is hysterically funny. However, there is a turning point from the humor, and that point is when Redwood admits that he has been feeding it to his baby, and other babies, that grow and grow and grow —and become giants, isolated and hated by society for their sheer size. The humor becomes a gnawing discomfort. Bensington disappears from the picture, but Redwood remains throughout the book, still unable to see the damage they have done. And the politicians who try to stop the spread of the "Food" are seen as evil and closed-minded.
    The book left me with disturbed feelings and lack of conclusion. I really don't know the point Wells was trying to make, however, my personal opinion is that it may have been symbolic for something going on in England at the time (1904), that may be lost on modern readers, perhaps representing change and the "littleness" of those who are unable to accept it. Though this was not one of my favorite Wells books, I am still glad I took the time to read it. The Food of the Gods has certainly provided food for thought.

RRRRRR