The Time Machine - Analysis

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There are numerous people in society who lack certain skills that they need for survival.

These people may lack intelligence and depend on other human beings to help them get

through life. However, most of the time, it is there fault that they lack these necessities. In

“The Time Machine” by H.G Wells, the Eloi had this problem. They were victims of their

own weaknesses because they didn’t understand that learning these important skills was

necessary for them to survive.

When he arrived in the future, The Time Traveller, after seeing and hearing the

Eloi, concluded that they had an extremely low intelligence compared to the people that

lived in his time. They were often described as and compared to little children. “Then one

of them asked me a question that showed him to be on the intellectual level of one of our

five year old children.”(39) He was very shocked about this weakness that the Eloi

possessed. The fact that the Time Traveller lived 800,00 years in the past led him to

believe that over time, the generations got less and less intelligent and more involved with

having fun compared to the world where he lived.

The Time Traveller also realized that the Eloi were very dependent on other

people for many of there resources. He mentioned that the Eloi had houses and clothing

but he didn’t see any machinery or anything that could possibly produce these items.

“There were no shops, no workshops, no sign of importations among them.” (65) This led

him the believe that there had to be someone or something that was making these items for

them. Since the Time Traveller had already know about the low intelligence of the Eloi,

this didn’t come as surprize to him. He was able to come to the conclusion that the Eloi

cannot do very much for themselves.

Another fact that the Time Traveler came across was that the Eloi spent all day

playing games and doing nothing of importance. He didn't understand how they could get

things done and survive in their world. "They spent all day of their time in playing gently,

in bathing in the river, in making love in a half-playful fashion, in eating fruit and sleeping.

I could not see how things were kept going." (65) He thought that the Eloi acted just like

little children. The thing that puzzled him was how the society could function properly

when no one took anything seriously. He never saw an Eloi doing work or anything of

value. As a result, the Time Traveller didn't understand how the Eloi stayed alive.

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