H.G. Wells’s Time Machine

The cultural and intellectual climate of the last decade of nineteenth century was rule by the theory of evolution and socialist ideas. It was an age when aristocratic gentlemen had the cartridge clip and inclination to discuss and logical argument upon every kinds of social and scientific things, including succession travelling. At the truly beginning, the novel succeeds in setting a t i of passionate intellectual curiosity and open-minded enquiry.booster shots Journey of Plot and Conflict The Protagonist The novels protagonist, identified unless as the age traveler, is essentially a scientist and inventor. He is very scientifically minded, and comes out as a character whose breeding is dedicated to scientific advancement and intellect the nature of the world and b take on and butter. Reason is central to his outlook of the world. In his investigations, he has stumbled upon some radical insights in the structure of pragmatism, which lead him to build his fantastic sent ence motorcar.The sign events The novel begins as the cartridge clip traveller invites his friends to inspect his new invention a beat machine. He explains the idea to themThere are really four belongingss, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a ordinal, measure There is no difference surrounded by clip and any of the three dimensions of Space except that our cognisance moves along it. (1)Scientists and mathematicians mode measure been talking more or less a possible fourth dimension before him, tho our inventor rightly identifies the fourth dimension not with an extra spatial dimension merely with duration. He so shows his friends a small flummox of his invention a metallic frame with ivory and crystal parts. One prize can egg on it toward the future tense, and another can reverse the direction. He helps unity of his friends weightlift the future prise, and the model promptly disappears. Where did it go? It did not move in space at all it si mply went to another time, the prison term traveler explains. His friends cannot decide whether to believe him.Next, the era Traveller takes his friends to his home laboratory, to design his nearly complete, full-scale model. A calendar week later he finishes the time machine, climbs aboard, and begins a remarkable locomote to the future. The memoir is recounted in flash back, by and by the Time Traveller is back from his adventures.Seated in his time machine, the Time Traveller first presses the future lever gently forward. Then he presses the ace for stopping. He looks at his lab. Everything is the same. Then he notices the clock A moment before, as it seemed, it had sas welld at a minute or so past ten instantaneously it was nearly half-past three He pushes the lever ahead again, and he can see his housekeeper flit crossways the room at high speed. Then he pushes the lever far forward.The night came ilk the go out of a light, and in another moment came tomorrow. As I put on a pace, night followed twenty-four hours like the flapping of a black wing Presently, as I went on, still gaining velocity, the palpitation of night and day merged into one continuous grayness I adage huge buildings rise up faint and fair, and pass like dreams. (1)Eventually, the Time Traveller act ass his vehicle to a stop. The machines dials show that he has arrived in the year 802,701. What does he contract?The Conflict In the distant future where the Time Traveller lands, the clement campaign has split into both species one, brutish and mean, living below strand the Morlocks the other, childlike and gentle, living above ground the Eloi. The central fighting of the novel revolves around these two groups. The Time Traveller identifies himself with the Eloi, at least to a degree, and among them he finds a keep back a go at itly young woman named Weena, whom he befriends. Weena can be considered as the protagonists love avocation. But soon he discovers, to his ho rror, that the genus Troglodytes living below are cannibals and prey on the Eloi. some(prenominal) adventures follow. The action scene of peak grandness is the Time Traveller reclaiming his Time Machine stolen by the Morlocks escaping.The finish The novel has a kind of prophetical climax/anticlimax. Escaping from the Morlocks, the protagonist pushes the lever into the extreme forward position. By the time he is able to bring the machine under control, he has moved into the far future. Mammals have become extinct, and only some crablike creatures and butterflies stick around on Earth. He explores as far as 30 million years into the future, where he discovers a dull red Sun and lichen-like vegetation the only beast life in evidence is a football- solved creature with tentacles. rises Time Traveller witnesses the end of the world, and apocalyptic fancy that he carries back to the present. His revelation of finitude implies that we can expect and must accept an end to life, an undeniable doomsday.The Epilogue The Time Traveller then re magical spells to his admit time and to his friends. As proof of his experience in the future, he produces a couple of flowers Weena had disposed him, of a type unk instantaneouslyn to his friends. After talking to his friends, the Time Traveller departs on his time machine and never returns. The teller wonders about his fate. Where did he go? Did he return to the future or go instead to some prehistoric realm?Narration The bulk of the yarn is told from the point of view of the Time Traveller. The means of the story is, however, framed within the narration of one of Time Travellers guests. This guest, the frame narrator, introduces the Time Traveller and lets him relate his adventure in an inset narrative. The frame narrators outside viewpoint carries a degree of objectivity and gives credibility to the inventors inset narrative. He rationality the story in a reality with which the audience can identify before and af ter experiencing the wondrous trip in the time machine. With the return to familiar surroundings, the reader, like the Time Traveller, might question the reality of such a singular experience (Is it all only a dream? They say life is a dream), but the presence of an honorable gentleman in the form of frame narrator gives more plausibility to the narrative of the protagonist who is by nature a dreamer and a visionary.Theme and Meaning Wellss inventors interest in time traveling seems primarily for the sake of scientific accomplishment, to gain friendship for knowledges sake. H.G. Wells story begins with, and forever and a day refers back to, the time machine itself. However, the machine is simply a device allowing the rootage to present his own perspective on a possible future. The master(prenominal) thrust of the story lies in this form of forecasting and prediction and as well in the social comment about the conflicts between different classes or kinds of society. The main i ntent is not so much to explore the questions of time, but to illustrate the ultimate possible case of social and stinting divisions of humanity. Thus, this story can be seen more as a social and policy-making criticism than experience fiction.The Time Traveller does not have a definite cause and notion explanation for the Elois society. To shape his theories he relies on the scientific method, using empirical evidence to reach result that he reformulates with the stripping of new information. However, his inconclusive conclusions are largely conjectures. The Time Traveller bases his hypotheses on socioeconomic conditions and theories (especially socialism) prevalent in his own period of the late nineteenth century, and on a metaphorical range of the capitalist and worker.Without knowledge of some causal chain, he lacks definite information to show what other uncertain elements may have affected mankind to produce the bifurcation of the human species and the predator-prey re lationship of the Morlock and Eloi. While such ambiguities raise many another(prenominal) incontestable questions, the message that comes out of them is clear any kind of widening gap between groups of human race can prove costly in the end. The novel also answers one thing almost straightaway Eventually there depart not be a trace of humanity left, the world will become desolate and barren. The vision of the end of the world is perchance the most haunting and to date the most enlightening aspect of this work, to me. I also wonder how it would have been if the Time Traveller pushed further, if only to cinch the briefest glimpse into eternity.ConclusionNo idea from science fiction has captured the human imagination as much as time travel. We seem free to move around in space at will, but in time we are like helpless rafters in a mighty stream, propelled into the future at the rate of one second per second. One wishes one could sometimes paddle ahead to investigate the shores of the future, or perhaps turn around and go against the current to visit the past. The hope that such freedom will one day be ours is sustained when we observe that many feats formerly mind impossible have now been realise and are even taken for granted.When Wells wrote The Time Machine in 1895, many mountain thought that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible. But just eight years later the Wright brothers proved the skeptics wrong. Flights to the mope too strictly belonged to the realm of fantasy until Apollo program achieved it. Might time travel be homogeneous? Wellss swift-paced classic science fiction tale challenges us to dare to dream the impossible. The idea of time travel gained projection through Wellss wonderful novel. Most remarkable is his treatment of time as a fourth dimension, which uncannily anticipates Einsteins use of the concept several years later.Interestingly, the Time Machine was Wells first novel, and enjoyed an instant popularity, rescu ing its author from reconditeness and poverty. Today it stands as one of the greatest pioneering science fiction tales. I would like to read Jules Vernes A Journey to the Moon after this.ReferencesWells H. G. (1898). The Time Machine. Retrieved May 10 2007 from http//www.gutenberg.org/files/35/35.txtH.G. Wellss Time MachineThe Protagonist The novels protagonist, identified only as the Time Traveller, is essentially a scientist and inventor. He is very scientifically minded, and comes out as a character whose life is dedicated to scientific advancement and understanding the nature of the world and life. Reason is central to his outlook of the world. In his investigations, he has stumbled upon some radical insights in the structure of reality, which lead him to build his fantastic time machine.The initial events The novel begins as the Time Traveller invites his friends to inspect his new invention a time machine. He explains the idea to themThere are really four dimensions, three w hich we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time There is no difference between Time and any of the three dimensions of Space except that our consciousness moves along it. (1)Scientists and mathematicians have been talking about a possible fourth dimension before him, but our inventor rightly identifies the fourth dimension not with an extra spatial dimension but with time. He then shows his friends a small model of his invention a metallic frame with ivory and quartz parts. One lever can propel it toward the future, and another can reverse the direction. He helps one of his friends push the future lever, and the model promptly disappears. Where did it go? It did not move in space at all it simply went to another time, the Time Traveller explains. His friends cannot decide whether to believe him.Next, the Time Traveller takes his friends to his home laboratory, to see his nearly complete, full-scale model. A week later he finishes the time machine, climbs aboard, and begi ns a remarkable journey to the future. The narrative is recounted in flash back, after the Time Traveller is back from his adventures.Seated in his time machine, the Time Traveller first presses the future lever gently forward. Then he presses the one for stopping. He looks at his lab. Everything is the same. Then he notices 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 He pushes the lever ahead again, and he can see his housekeeper flit across the room at high speed. Then he pushes the lever far forward.The night came like the turning out of a light, and in another moment came tomorrow. As I put on a pace, night followed day like the flapping of a black wing Presently, as I went on, still gaining velocity, the palpitation of night and day merged into one continuous grayness I saw huge buildings rise up faint and fair, and pass like dreams. (1)Eventually, the Time Traveller brings his vehicle to a stop. The machine s dials show that he has arrived in the year 802,701. What does he find?The Conflict In the distant future where the Time Traveller lands, the human race has split into two species one, brutish and mean, living below ground the Morlocks the other, childlike and gentle, living above ground the Eloi. The central conflict of the novel revolves around these two groups. The Time Traveller identifies himself with the Eloi, at least to a degree, and among them he finds a lovely young woman named Weena, whom he befriends. Weena can be considered as the protagonists love interest. But soon he discovers, to his horror, that the troglodytes living below are cannibals and prey on the Eloi. Several adventures follow. The action scene of peak importance is the Time Traveller reclaiming his Time Machine stolen by the Morlocks escaping.The Climax The novel has a kind of apocalyptic climax/anticlimax. Escaping from the Morlocks, the protagonist pushes the lever into the extreme forward position. B y the time he is able to bring the machine under control, he has moved into the far future. Mammals have become extinct, and only some crablike creatures and butterflies remain on Earth. He explores as far as 30 million years into the future, where he discovers a dull red Sun and lichen-like vegetation the only animal life in evidence is a football-shaped creature with tentacles. Wellss Time Traveller witnesses the end of the world, and apocalyptic vision that he carries back to the present. His revelation of finiteness implies that we can expect and must accept an end to life, an inevitable doomsday.The Epilogue The Time Traveller then returns to his own time and to his friends. As proof of his experience in the future, he produces a couple of flowers Weena had given him, of a type unknown to his friends. After talking to his friends, the Time Traveller departs on his time machine and never returns. The narrator wonders about his fate. Where did he go? Did he return to the future o r go instead to some prehistoric realm?The bulk of the story is told from the viewpoint of the Time Traveller. The substance of the story is, however, framed within the narration of one of Time Travellers guests. This guest, the frame narrator, introduces the Time Traveller and lets him relate his adventure in an inset narrative. The frame narrators outside viewpoint carries a degree of objectivity and gives credibility to the inventors inset narrative. He grounds the story in a reality with which the audience can identify before and after experiencing the wondrous trip in the time machine. With the return to familiar surroundings, the reader, like the Time Traveller, might question the reality of such a strange experience (Is it all only a dream? They say life is a dream), but the presence of an honorable gentleman in the form of frame narrator gives more plausibility to the narrative of the protagonist who is by nature a dreamer and a visionary.Wellss inventors interest in time tr aveling seems primarily for the sake of scientific accomplishment, to gain knowledge for knowledges sake. H.G. Wells story begins with, and constantly refers back to, the time machine itself. However, the machine is simply a device allowing the author to present his own perspective on a possible future. The main thrust of the story lies in this form of forecasting and prediction and also in the social comment about the conflicts between different classes or kinds of society. The main intent is not so much to explore the questions of time, but to illustrate the ultimate possible consequence of social and economic divisions of humanity. Thus, this story can be seen more as a social and political criticism than science fiction.The Time Traveller does not have a definite cause and effect explanation for the Elois society. To shape his theories he relies on the scientific method, using empirical evidence to reach conclusion that he reformulates with the discovery of new information. Howe ver, his inconclusive conclusions are largely conjectures. The Time Traveller bases his hypotheses on socioeconomic conditions and theories (especially socialism) prevalent in his own period of the late nineteenth century, and on a metaphorical image of the capitalist and worker. Without knowledge of some causal chain, he lacks definite information to show what other variable elements may have affected mankind to produce the bifurcation of the human species and the predator-prey relationship of the Morlock and Eloi.While such ambiguities raise many unanswerable questions, the message that comes out of them is clear any kind of widening gap between groups of human race can prove costly in the end. The novel also answers one thing most directly Eventually there will not be a trace of humanity left, the earth will become desolate and barren. The vision of the end of the world is perhaps the most haunting and yet the most enlightening aspect of this work, to me. I also wonder how it wou ld have been if the Time Traveller pushed further, if only to catch the briefest glimpse into eternity.No idea from science fiction has captured the human imagination as much as time travel. We seem free to move around in space at will, but in time we are like helpless rafters in a mighty stream, propelled into the future at the rate of one second per second. One wishes one could sometimes paddle ahead to investigate the shores of the future, or perhaps turn around and go against the current to visit the past. The hope that such freedom will one day be ours is sustained when we observe that many feats formerly thought impossible have now been realized and are even taken for granted.When Wells wrote The Time Machine in 1895, many people thought that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible. But just eight years later the Wright brothers proved the skeptics wrong. Flights to the Moon too strictly belonged to the realm of fantasy until Apollo program achieved it. Might time tr avel be similar? Wellss swift-paced classic science fiction tale challenges us to dare to dream the impossible. The idea of time travel gained prominence through Wellss wonderful novel. Most remarkable is his treatment of time as a fourth dimension, which uncannily anticipates Einsteins use of the concept several years later.Interestingly, the Time Machine was Wells first novel, and enjoyed an instant popularity, rescuing its author from obscurity and poverty. Today it stands as one of the greatest pioneering science fiction tales. I would like to read Jules Vernes A Journey to the Moon after this.References1. Wells H. G. (1898). The Time Machine. Retrieved May 10 2007 from http//www.gutenberg.org/files/35/35.txt