"The Lord of the Dynamos" is a British

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by H.G. Wells. It was originally published in the ''

Pall Mall Budget The ''Pall Mall Budget'' was a weekly magazine published in London from 1868 until 1920. It was a weekly digest of articles from evening newspaper ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' (1865 to 1923). The ''Pall Mall Budget'' was re-launched in 1893 by Wil ...

'' (6 September 1894), and then included in the collection ''

The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents ''The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents'' is a collection of fifteen fantasy and science fiction short stories written by the English author H. G. Wells between 1893 and 1895. It was first published by Methuen & Co. in 1895 and was Wells's fir ...

'', published by Methuen & Co. in 1895, and subsequently in his Complete Short Stories. It deals with what Wells describes as "certain odd possibilities of the negro mind brought into abrupt contact with the crown of our civilisation" and the narration displays

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

attitudes common among British society of the time, in addition to the overt thuggish racism of the character Holroyd.

Plot summary

Azuma-zi, a character of ill-defined but dark-skinned race, apparently of South-East Asian origin, arrives in London from the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...

on board a steamer where he was a stoker. He speaks no English and is bewildered by the turmoil of London; he loses all the money he has earned serving on the steamer and eventually finds work, again as a stoker, in a

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

which supplies power to an underground electric railway (given the date of publication, this can only be the

City and South London Railway The City and South London Railway (C&SLR) was the first successful deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction. The railway was originally intended for cable-hauled trains, but owing ...

, although the power station supplying this line was actually at

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

). The power station is in the charge of one James Holroyd, an electrician from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He is a

bully Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by ot ...

and a

; he drinks

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...

while on duty and beats Azuma-zi with a rod of copper wire. He is irreligious; he lectures Azuma-zi against religion, and suggests to him that the largest and most impressive of the three

dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

s in the plant is more of a " Gord" than the one preached by

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

. Azuma-zi is powerfully impressed by the humming, whirling machinery and comes to believe that the big dynamo is indeed a god. He starts to worship it; he salaams to it when he arrives at work, prays to it to save him from Holroyd, cleans and polishes it with devotional care, and anoints it with oil - by which he unintentionally damages an area of the insulating varnish on the coils, and on discovering this Holroyd orders him to stay away from the machine with threats of violence. Holroyd's bullying and Azuma-zi's dynamo worship combine to convince Azuma-zi that his god disapproves of Holroyd and eventually that it desires Holroyd as a human sacrifice. Azuma-zi surprises Holroyd, trips him and throws him against the exposed live terminals on the end of the dynamo, where he is

electrocuted Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

. Investigation of Holroyd's death is extremely perfunctory; the police are not called, Holroyd is presumed to have committed suicide, and nobody thinks to suspect Azuma-zi of murder. Holroyd is replaced by a character named only as "the scientific manager"; in contrast to Holroyd's bullying, he takes very little notice of Azuma-zi at all. Nevertheless, impressed by the swift death inflicted on Holroyd by the dynamo, Azuma-zi decides to make the scientific manager a sacrifice as well. The scientific manager fights back, and manages to keep himself clear of the live parts until a third person happens to arrive on the scene, at which Azuma-zi panics, abandons the struggle and seizes the live terminals in his own hands.

Racism

While Holroyd is depicted as a thuggish, unthinking bully who "liked a nigger s an assistantbecause he would stand kicking", the narration, although sympathetic to Azuma-zi, nevertheless describes him in terms that would be considered unacceptable in modern times. He is described as a "savage" and a "mere black", and it is implied that his worship of the dynamo is not merely the result of

culture shock Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration ...

, but also owes something to the "negro mind".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lord of the Dynamos, The Short stories by H. G. Wells British short stories Works originally published in The Strand Magazine