Question

Read the passage from The War of the Worlds. There were really, I should think, two or three hundred people elbowing and jostling one another, the one or two ladies there being by no means the least active.
In this passage, the author uses humor to comment on the
foolishness of people.
cleverness of the aliens.
necessity of community.
importance of journalism.

Answer 1

The correct answer is: the foolishness of people.

Indeed, the passage is an example of dramatic irony. The narrator is describing a very disorderly crowd of very curious onlookers.  The context is chapter four of the novel, which preceded the initial deadly attack of the Martians against humans.

The physical movement of “elbowing and jostling” one another foreshadows the very near attack that will soon commence. In this instance, such movement is one of a curious crowd that impatiently tries to get a better look at the cylinder. In the next instance it will be the movement of a crowd in panic, that runs frantically away from the heat ray that obliterates everything in its past.

The reason the author uses such dramatic irony is that the reader knows something the characters ignore.

Answer 2

"The War of Worlds" is actually a science-fiction novel that was written by the author H. G. Wells. And based on the passage above taken from this novel, the use of humor here is mainly to comment on the foolishness of people. The answer to this is the first option.