Question

What did the public's reaction to The Mercury Theater's broadcast of H.G. Wells' The War of the World's (Oct. 1938) reveal about the American people in the 1930 s?

• A. The lack of science education available to the American public.
• B. Americans could only afford radio entertainment rather than pricey theatrical productions.
• C. The trust Americans had placed in the medium of radio by the 1930 s.
• D. Most Americans believed that life forms existed on the planet of Mars.
• E. Science-fiction had grown to become a powerful cultural genre during the decade.

Answer 1

The correct option is A The lack of science education available to the American public.

On Sunday, October 30, 1938, millions of radio listeners were shocked when radio news alerts announced the arrival of Martians. They panicked when they learned of the Martians' ferocious and seemingly unstoppable attack on Earth. Many ran out of their homes screaming while others packed up their cars and fled.

Though what the radio listeners heard was a portion of Orson Welles' adaptation of the well-known book, War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, many of the listeners believed what they heard on the radio was real.