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Herbert George Wells was born in 1866 in Bromley, Kent, a few miles
from
London, the son of a house-maid and gardener. Wells died in 1946, a
wealthy and
famous author, having seen science fiction become a recognized literary
form and
having seen the world realize some of science fiction’s fondest
dreams and worst
fears. Wells mother attempted to find him a safe occupation as a draper
or
chemist.
Wells had a quick mind and a good memory that enabled him to pass
subjects by
examination and win a scholarship to the Normal School of Science, where
he
stayed for three years and, most importantly, was exposed to biology
under the
famous Thomas H. Huxley. Wells went into teaching and writing text books
and
articles for the magazines that were of that time. In 1894 he began to
write
science-fiction stories. -James Gunn
Wells vision of the future, with its troglodytic Morlocks descended
from the
working class of his day and the pretty but helpless Eloi devolved from
the
leisure class, may seem antiquated political theory. It emerged out of
the
concern for social justice that drew Wells to the Fabian Society and
inspired
much of his later writing, but time has not dimmed the fascination of
the
situation and the horror of the imagery.
The Time Machine brought these concerns into his fiction. It,
too,
involved the future, but a future imagined with greater realism and in
greater
detail than earlier stories of the future. It also introduced, for the
first
time in fiction, the notion of a machine for traveling in time.
In this novel the Time Machine by H. G. Wells, starts with the time
traveler
trying to persuade his guest’s the theory of the fourth dimension
and even the
invention. He tries to explain the fourth dimension before he shows them
the
time machine so they don’t think of him as a magician. H. G. Wells
uses details
about the fourth dimension to teach the reader the theory about it to
capture
your attention. Also Wells character the time traveler says Scientific
people,
Know very well that time is only a kind of space. In this quote he is
clearly
using persuasion tactics. He tries to attack there consious by saying
that,
scientific people know that this is only a kind of space. He says this
in hopes
that they will believe what he says just because other intelligent
people
believe the theory. This is a very primitive but still an effective way
to try
to persuade people. The idea is because many people believe it, so it
must be
true. The people he is trying to persuade are of 19th century thinking
and well
to do people and they are competitive amongst other well to do people so
if
other rich and intelligent people believe this fourth dimension theory
so the
time traveler hopes this will motivate them to learn about it.
The Characters in the book Time Machine are The time traveler, Filby,
the
psychologist, and the provincial mayor. Later the silent man and the
editor come
in to play. Filby is described as an argumentative person with red
hair. He
has another label that Wells puts on him; he call him the young man.
The
psychologist also has another label; he is the medical man. The time
traveler
is described briefly when the group of intellects head down the corridor
to the
laboratory. He uses his queer broad head in silhouette. When the
arrive at the
machine’s location it is described as Parts were made of nickel,
parts of
ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal. He
probably
chose these characters as witnesses because they hold higher education
and
people would believe them from there reputations. The psychologist would
be
beneficiary in convincing the other that its not a hoax because he is
aware of
human behavior. The provincial mayor is also an intelligent man and the
people
elected him so if he is to believe that this works then many people
would follow
him. Filby is another character but never talks about his standing in
society it
could be his friend because he did wink at the time traveler or maybe he
is not
because he disputed the time traveler’s time machine in his face
and behind his
back. H. G. Wells uses two other characters that come to dinner to meet
the time
traveler. The main character comes back from the future. The medical
doctor and
the provincial mayor are accompanied by the editor or known as the
journalist,
and the silent man. The editor uses three names to describe his guest's;
Blank,
Dash, and Chose. These names are mentioned but they are never given a
designation so there is no way to figure out which one is the mayor,
psychologist, or the silent man. The editor shows some disbelief but
goes ahead
listening to the story and is a little eager. He may just wanted to get
a story
to report in the newspaper that someone has claimed to have gone to the
future
and back. They all agree that the time traveler can tell his story
without
interruption because he is wary with exhaustion and has no tolerance to
answer
questions or be accused as a liar or a quack.
He begins his story by telling that he has lived eight days...such
days as
no human has ever lived before!. Next he is in his laboratory working
on his
time machine trying to complete it before Friday. He completes it that
morning.
He is delayed to the ivory rod that was an inch to long so he had to get
it
remade. The time traveler begins his journey to the future. At first he
didn't
know if anything was happening yet for this machine was untested. For a
moment
I suspected that my intellect had tricked me. Then I noted the clock.
A moment
before, as it seemed, it had stood at a minute or so past ten; now it
was nearly
half-past three!. This part in the novel is his most detailed
explanation to
capture the readers imagination and to fully support the illusion of
time
travel. He tells of many details such as his maid Mrs. Watched came in
the
laboratory and moved like a rocket around it. He explains the time
traveling
experience as a since of falling and the speed is so great that it feels
like
any minute you will smash into another object. All these details suggest
that
its not a comfortable ride especially when he said I remarked indeed a
clumsy
swaying of the machine, for which I was unable to account. There is
evidence
that the laboratory and the time traveler's house was torn down when he
saw the
brief picture of scaffolding. A snail went across the room at a speed
that his
eyes could not keep up with. After his house was gone he was in the open
air and
saw huge buildings erect themselves all around him. Wells was right in
his
assumption about these buildings because skyscrapers do exist in our
time. He
saw all the vegetation grow and die. The moon ran its cycles and the sun
shot
across the sky so fast that it was hurting the time traveler's eyes. The
time
traveler witness the season's changing from snow to spring in a
continuos cycle.
He thought of stopping but he was afraid of jamming his molecules and
the
object's molecules that occupied that space at that particular time.
Here he
goes back to science and with some added element of chemistry. The main
character explains that if his time machine occupied the same space at
the same
time as another object then the molecules would fuse together causing a
chemical
reaction and the ending result would be an explosion. Even with this
threat he
takes the risk out of curiosity building some suspense in the book. He
stops and
is flung from his machine and is met by a thunderstorm. This is
realistic in
this book because in the UK it rains a lot so there is a good chance
that he
would encounter rain. After the Thunder storm is gone he hears voices in
the
bushes. A person emerges from the brush and is described as a slight
creature-perhaps four feet high-clad in a purple tunic, girdled at the
waist
with a leather belt. Sandals or buskins-I could not clearly distinguish
which-were on his feet; his legs were bare to the knees, and his head
was bare.
He was under the impression that there will frail creature and not very
intelligent and he was correct. His assumption of intelligence was
proven when
one of the human looking creatures asked him is he had come from the sun
riding
on a thunderstorm. Also when he gave them a threatening motion towards
them when
they got around the machine they retreated immediately. His assumption
of
frailty was proven after this fact. He noticed that a lot of them looked
a like
which he thought was odd. They probably looked like this because they
have been
bred and raised like cattle for many years so they are all probably
sharing a
lot of the same genes. The thing Wells did not know is that you can not
do that
to mammals especially humans; breeding so closely using the same genes
it causes
mammals to become sterile and extinct. He only had 19th century
knowledge so he
was probably not aware of this or he didn't care because most people
were
probably not aware of the study of genetics. They didn't show much
interest in
learning they would run around and play with toys and lose interest in a
never
ending cycle like a child. He didn't know there language but it was
obviously
derived from the English because one of the Eli’s asked him if he
had come from
the sun and he understood but some of the other things that the Eli were
saying
didn't make sense to the time traveler. He saw the white sphinx and
describe it
as having a silver tree at its shoulder and the sphinx was made of
marble and
the wings of it were spread out. A pedestal that the time traveler
described was
mad of bronze and was thick with verdigris. The building that the Eloi
resided
at had according to the time traveler had huge doors and was all
together
colossal dimensions. The entrance had carvings of Phoenicians. After
seeing a
sphinx and Phoenician carvings and how primitive the people were he had
doubts
that he was in the future. This proved by when the time traveler is
remembering
the date on his dials that read 802, 701 A.D. He noticed the Eli diet as
been
composed of mainly fruit and vegetables. He noticed there was no signs
of
economic or cultural struggle in the surroundings so the time traveler
has some
knowledge of archeology and maybe a bit of a historian, he even said
that he
would like to witness the accepted account of the battle of Hastings.
Also when
the time traveler looks at the countryside he says to himself
Communism, I said
to myself. This shows that H. G. Wells know of Marxism Communism but it
does
not show if he is a supporter or against it. At first he thought this
society
was man's triumph that they live in peace but he learns later that the
Eloi are
being bred fattened up and eaten by the ant like people the Morlocks.
Later the main character returned to check on his time machine and to
his
surprise it was gone. He began to panic, even when he fell down and hit
his face
which produced a trickling of blood didn't even pause. At this point the
time
traveler is over stressed and bent on getting his time machine back. He
no
longer cares to learn about the Eloi; his priority has changed. H. G.
Wells uses
realistic thought process of people when they are faced with problems.
The time
traveler is pacing and his conscious is talking to itself trying to calm
down
and come up with solutions and answers.
After this event he sees Weena an adult Eloi girl swimming in a
stream. She
gets a cramp and begins to drown and the other Eloi didn't even make an
effort
to save her. The time traveler saves her life and they become very
close. The
sleep outside and she shows an uncomfortable behavior as well as the
other Eloi
about the dark. The Eloi wouldn’t sleep alone or go out at dark.
The time traveler resorts back to more theories about the hotter
climate of
the region. He thinks that the planets are closer to the sun now or that
a
planet has smashed into the sun and given it renewed energy. He was
hiding from
the heat in a building when he found a gallery of history. It contained
fossils,
machines, weapons, chemicals, and idles from every culture Greek,
Phoenician and
even English ones.
He found the tunnels that looked like half pillars kind of like ant
wholes.
The time traveler saw one of the Morlocks and described it as having a
dull
white, and had strange large greyish-red eyes; also that there was
flaxen hair
on its head and down its back. He later described them as mechanical
servants
for the Eli and he hated them and wanted to murder them even though
they were
the descendants of the human race. They were carnivorous and preyed upon
the
Eloi. He goes back to the gallery and Weena accompanies him everywhere
he goes.
He finds some matches and he breaks a lever off an ancient machine
serving as a
mace to smash the Morlocks soft bodies. He found some camphor which is
like a
candle wax. He left the gallery at night fall and started fires on
purpose to
blind the creatures but he had difficulties starting vegetation on fire.
The
Morlocks were extremely sensitive to the light. The attacked him and he
beat
them with his mace. They were very weak individually but strong in
numbers. The
fires calm down and became dark again then they grabbed him and were
biting at
his neck. He jumped up and did some real strenuous fighting that occurs
when
people are in the middle of combat and they experience a rush of anger.
The
fires started back up and the Morlocks swayed to and fro in agony. They
were
making moaning sounds to each other. He chose not to kill any of them
while they
were at his mercy. He sleeps awhile and in the morning he heads down to
the
white sphinx. To his surprise he sees that the doors are open and the
time
machine is visible. Obviously it is a trap for the time traveler. He
proceeds in
the doors even though he suspects a trap. As soon as he gets on the time
machine
the doors closed. The Morlocks laugh out loud thinking that he is
trapped. The
time traveler makes an attempt to lite the match but it only lites on
the match
box. He defeats one of the Morlocks and gets on his time machine and
pushes the
lever forward in a panic. Then he goes hurling forward in time. He is on
the
time machine in an awkward position. He stops and when he does he is on
a beach
and two large crustaceans try to eat him so he accelerates into the
future 30
million years or more and the sun grows bigger and more dull. Then the
world
becomes dark and the air is difficult to breathe. When he thought life
was
extinct he sees a life form swimming in the water the size of a
football. He
then returns to his laboratory but in a different location because of
the
Morlocks tampering with its location in the future.
The editor and the medical doctor don't believe his fantastic story
even for
an instant. The medical doctor can't recognize the species of flower
that the
time traveler had in his pockets but that didn't change his mind at one
bit. The
narrator even said that The serious people who took him seriously never
felt
quite sure of his deportment; they were somehow aware that trusting
their
reputations for judgment with him was like furnishing a nursery with
egg-shell
china. The editor called his story a gaudy story. The narrator comes
back to
find the time traveler and sees him carrying a camera to his laboratory.
He
heads to the laboratory as a result of clinking and thud sounds. He
enters the
lab and witnesses just a flash of the time machine and the time
traveler. Then
with a whirl of wind and dust the time traveler disappeared.
I enjoyed this book but I can't believe how the time traveler acted
being a
logical and scientific man. Like when he went the future he encountered
a new
kind of people and they led him to a building where they reside. He just
left
his time machine behind; he could have had those people help him take it
back to
where they were staying. Also he should have put some wheels on it so it
could
be transported easier and also a floatation device encase he ended up in
water.
Also he should of had Weena stay with the others, Im sure she was
hampering his
attempts in combat with the Morlocks. Also instead of causing terrible
useless
damage to the environment he should have laid siege to the pillars that
the
Morlocks used to exit out of. He should have set heavy objects on top of
them
and started fires around them at night time. They would die of lack of
oxygen or
hunger and the hunger would force them out of the holes into the fire or
they
would eat each other. This would result in diminishing there numbers and
making
them to weak to resist a confrontation.
This book had a lot of science elements to it such as the climate
change,
fourth dimension, chemical reaction, and some of Darwin's theories.
There are
some things that are not true about this story that I want to point out.
When
the time traveler goes 30 million years in the future from his beach
location he
describe after the Morlock scene. He would not end up on the beach
because of
continental drifting when the earth rotates. The continents move an inch
a year
that 30 million inches! He would be in the ocean and sinking fast so if
he did
but the lever back the ocean would change the space he was occupying and
he
would be stuck in the ground when came back probably resulting in an
explosion.
Also when the earth became darker only after 30 million years. The sun
has
approximately 5.5 billion years left before it goes super nova. Then it
will
become a red giant and be extremely big as wells described in the book.
So Wells
was not informed of all the facts but still, this book was interesting
and
entertaining.
Word Count: 3207
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