Our technology is useless in the book and in the movie it wins it for us. In a sense the endings are the same because a computer virus is what causes the aliens’ shields to go down in the movie and biological viruses kill the aliens in the book. Still when I think about it, “Independence Day” is the best way to modernize the story.Pre World War One England is the setting for the story. It fits nicely, for if the humans were more advanced; the alien technology would not have smashed them, and actually might have been smashed by technology from that of even World War Two days. In this case the setting is perfect on account of the humans having a small sense of hope in their machinery, but not enough technology to really compete. Characters are not a big part of this book. The main one, who never reveals his name, is the only one who in fact does not always go with the craziness of the public. He does have his moments of running away screaming and hiding, but he learns more about himself, mankind, and the aliens than anyone else in the book. He has loved ones in England and hates the aliens for what they do to his home, yet he understands what the aliens are trying to do. First person is a good way to write this kind of book because the reader knows exactly what a regular Joe would be thinking at a time like this. Another reason Wells is such a great author. Other characters are the aliens, who seem to be ugly heads that talk with their minds. The physical characteristics they possess are far different from humans and they never communicate with the humans.The last character worthy of note is the artillery man the main character meets towards the end of the book. The two seem to agree on the way things will work out, and both would rather live than die fighting. They play many games together, eat and talk and even spend the night out in the English countryside together. Without this man, the book does not...
