The Time Machine by H. G. Wells 8.2/10
A time traveller recounts his adventures in the year 802,701. His tales of a devolved and fractured human species expose a chilling potential future of the human race, as it was at the end of the industrial revolution.
Plot: 8/10
A time traveller from the late 1800s travels to the year 802,701. He discovers that humanity has devolved into the peaceful and childlike Eloi. Humans had mastered nature and the entire planet is a lush garden most hospitable to the vegetarian inhabitants. The time travellers time machine disappears, possibly locked away in the base of a nearby statue. The protagonist explores the new world, and the enormous ruins of the lost civilization that once ruled the earth. During his quest to make sense of his new world, and discover the fate of his machine, he befriends one of the Eloi females, Weena.
To his horror, the traveller discovers that humanity had devolved into two separate primitive species, the peaceful Eloi and the carnivorous subterranean Morlocks that feed on the Eloi. He deduces the Morlocks had locked his time machine in a statue. The Morlocks turn their attention on the traveller, and his interactions with them grow ever more violent. Their interactions culminate in a violent and fatal altercation.
The time traveller returns to the statue and finds the doors open. The Morlocks had used his machine as bait, but he approaches none the less. He mounts the time machine and jumps into the future just as the Morlocks spring their trap.
Characters: 8/10
The Eloi are a fickle and whimsical race and possess neither the drive nor intellect of the once-dominant species that engineered their idyllic world. The Morlocks are just as intellectually stunted but, being carnivores, they pose a significant threat to the protagonist.
The protagonist and narrator are articulate and guide the reader through this unknown world in an eloquent and unhurried manner.
Setting: 8/10
The future seems like a garden of Eden, and I assume this was by design. This novel is all Setting and Theme; comparatively the rest feels like filler. The vision of a decimated yet idyllic world was a macabre and beautiful picture.
Theme: 9/10
The theme behind this novel is brilliant. A society divided by arbitrary and idiotic parameters evolves into two distinct and incomplete creatures. The author’s critique of the social division in the late 1800s seems almost hostile.
H. G. Wells’ vision of a decimated yet idyllic world was a macabre picture. All of human endeavour reduced to rubble and yet the ultimate fruits of their labours, a world free of toil and suffering, covers the planet like a timeless garden of Eden.
Style and Mood: 8/10
The novel is a frame story, with the time traveller recounting his tale after he returns from his voyage. I must draw your attention to three lines in the novel.
‘I can’t argue to-night. I don’t mind telling you the story, but I can’t argue. I will,’ he went on, ‘tell you the story of what has happened to me, if you like, but you must refrain from interruptions.’
The traveller recounts his story without interruptions, and he rarely stops his recollections to talk to his guests or perform any action. Thanks to those three lines, and despite the literary technique used, I experienced the style and mood as “direct” and engaging.
Total Score: 8.2/10
It’s a classic, one of the titans of the sci-fi and time travel genres. To give you an idea, this book coined the term “time machine”. This novella is also an important entry in the steampunk genre, one of its defining titles even.
Thank you
JJ
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