What is the relationship between the Curate and the narrator in War of the Worlds?

The narrator, like just about everyone else in the book, finds the curate a constant source of irritation and annoyance. Even worse for the narrator is that he ends up being stuck in a house with this man, who everyone considers to be such an insufferable bore, for nine whole days, having to put up with his endless shouting and wittering to himself and his insatiable gluttony. (Which, ironically for a man of God, is one of the seven deadly sins.) When faced with a full-scale Martian invasion, the curate's explanation is that the unwelcome visitors are instruments of divine wrath; they are God's punishment for our sins, including gluttony, one presumes.
The narrator's response to the curate's seemingly never-ending string of loud lamentations is often violent and will doubtless find resonance among many of The War of the Worlds' readers—he beats and kicks the curate "madly," as he puts it. He also attempts to bribe him with a bottle of Burgundy to get him to keep his mouth shut. Sadly, that doesn't work, and so the curate carries on with his unhinged ranting, potentially alerting the Martians to where he and the narrator are hiding out.
Drastic situations call for drastic measures; the narrator grabs hold of a meat chopper and whacks the curate with the butt of the blade. He falls to the floor. Peace reigns. But not for long, because soon a Martian tentacle starts slithering around in the kitchen. After briefly examining the curate's body, this particular instrument of divine wrath drags him outside, where, presumably, a sumptuous Martian feast awaits.