Herbert George Wells' The Time Machine

Herbert George Wells' The Time Machine

‘The Time Machine’ was written in 1895 by a writer, scientist and

member of The Fabian Society, Herbert George Wells. Wells (born 1866)

was, and still is, a very famous writer who produced many novels, but

is most commonly known as a science-fiction author. ‘The Time Machine’

is Wells’ most celebrated novel and it’s themes represent the fears

and anxieties of his society and background. Wells’ background was

difficult, his father lost his business when Wells was 14, therefore,

Wells got a job as a housekeeper at a grand house called Uppark. This

is important because it influenced Wells in his writing. It showed him

the strict division in the upper and lower classes of his society.

Also, at the time of writing ‘The Time Machine’ the Industrial

Revolution.

Wells originally became interested in science when he won a

scholarship to the School of Science where he was taught biology by

T.H.Huxley. Wells found Huxley an inspiring teacher and as a result

developed a strong interest in evolution. Accordingly he soon heard

about Darwin’s theory of Evolution and Einstein’s theory of

Relativity, which made many scientists of the age, including Wells,

start to get worried. The cause of this tension was that they were on

the verge of a new century and, what many people thought to be, the

Apocalypse. As I mentioned earlier, Wells’ time was deeply affected by

the theories put forward by Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein. These

theories also sparked ideas in many scientists’ heads about the four

dimensions: Length, Breadth, Thickness and Time. Creating what seemed

to be the stupendous possibility of time travel.

The way ‘The Time Machine’ is structured is diverse compared to...

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...the ‘Morlocks’, who eat the ‘Eloi’ (cannibalism).

Wells has an unmatchable aptitude to create a sense of horror in the

readers’ minds, somehow, he taps into it and generates an unbelievable

sensation of terror and unforgivness to enchant the reader on the book

and nothing else. The ‘Eloi’ and the ‘Morlocks’ liaison reflects the

class system of Wells’ time because it shows us the ‘Eloi’ as the

upper-class people going round at day above ground. While the

lower-class people (‘Morlocks’) go around by night using tunnels below

ground to manoeuvre about the land.

All in all Wells was trying to warn us that the apocalypse or end of

the world as we know it was near and to prepare for the possible

degeneration of the human race. Therefore, my conclusion is Wells was

a very smart man, but evidently, his prediction was wrong, at least at

the time he predicted it.