How we cite our quotes: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
He met a waggoner and tried to make him understand, but the tale he told and his appearance were so wild – his hat had fallen off in the pit – that the man simply drove on. He was equally unsuccessful with the potman who was just unlocking the doors of the public-house by Horsell Bridge. The fellow thought he was a lunatic at large and made an unsuccessful attempt to shut him into the taproom. (1.2.11)
When we think of power in War of the Worlds, we think of the Heat-Ray and Martians beating up humans. But there are also a lot of power issues among humans. For instance, there's this scene in which Ogilvy is trying to find someone to talk to about the Martian cylinder and no one will listen. We could easily phrase that as an issue of power and authority. As far as the waggoner and potman are concerned, Ogilvy doesn't have the power to get their attention.
Quote #5
Such an extraordinary effect in unmanning me it had that I ran weeping silently as a child might do. (1.5.23)
Weakness is the flipside of power, and it's pretty much the exclusive property of humans in this novel. There are at least two scenes of people who can't do anything but cry. Now, we like crying – we're crying right now, which should excuse any typos we make – but when crying is the only thing you can do, well, then you don't really have the power to do anything else. Here, all the narrator can do is run and cry. Later, the artilleryman will similarly find that all he can do is sit and cry (1.11.24).
Quote #6
"It ain't no murder killing beasts like that," said the first speaker. (1.9.15)
In this quote, we see one of the sappers discuss how it's perfectly okay to kill Martians because they are just beasts. How does this relate to power? Well, you can only make these sorts of defining statements when you occupy a position of power (or in this case, think you do). Here, the sapper thinks of the Martians as one of the animals ("beasts") that humans have dominion over.