The Importance of History Theme Analysis

Tom, the main character of Mortal Engines, starts the story as an Apprentice Historian at the Museum of Natural History in a futuristic steampunk version of London. While members of the Engineering Guild, like Lord Mayor Crome, only care about excavating weapons technology from the past, the members of the History Guild care more about culture, extinct animals, and nonviolent technology. The Guild of Historians and the Guild of Engineers are the two most important Guilds for the story, representing the past and the future, respectively. The London that Tom lives in clearly values the Engineers more—they have their own impressive Guild building, and at one point the Engineers even take relics from the museum to burn in order to fuel London’s movement. But the Engineers’ focus on the future is short-sighted, and by ignoring the past example of the Sixty Minute War (a catastrophe that decimated old civilizations), Crome repeats the same mistakes as the old civilizations, accidentally destroying London when he tries to activate the ancient super-weapon MEDUSA.

The members of the Guild of Historians aren’t always heroic. Beyond their corrupt and murderous leader, Thaddeus Valentine, even regular Historians play a role in the cruel practice of Municipal Darwinism, salvaging the remains of prey cities that London devours. In many ways, the fictional Historians struggle with the same problems as real curators and archaeologists, who want to preserve the past for future generations but who, particularly during the height of colonialism, have sometimes benefitted from violence and dealt with relics obtained by force. Some of the Historians also get too attached to their work, worrying about artifacts and relics while forgetting about human lives. In the end, however, even the stern Chudleigh Pomeroy is willing to risk his life by fighting Engineers to buy Katherine time to attempt to stop MEDUSA. This shows that despite the Historians’ shortcomings, they remain a necessary counterbalance to the relentless Engineers, who only focus on forward movement. Mortal Engines imagines a future world where people fail to learn from the past and repeat the same mistakes, suggesting that preserving the past and learning from history are both important steps for ensuring a better future.