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GCSE English Literature · key term
Tiny organisms found in water. Wells compares human beings to these microscopic creatures to challenge humanity’s belief in its importance.
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Paper 1
Revise: Human complacency and humilityThe narrator immediately punctures that confidence: “It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same.” Infusoria are microscopic organisms found in water. Humans normally occupy the position of the observer, studying smaller creatures; here they become the creatures being studied.
Component 2
Microscopic organisms living in water, used in the novel’s opening comparison to reduce humanity’s apparent importance.
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The narrator then remarks: “It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same” (Book One Chapter 1). Infusoria are microscopic organisms living in water. The comparison reverses humanity’s usual position: humans who study tiny creatures may themselves be tiny creatures under someone else’s scrutiny.
