The Elements Of ‘The Time Machine’ By H G Wells

At the end of the 19th centrey there was an enoms sceintifical revlution, witch saw many new idears and inventions. This intest in sciens also was conved in the whiting of the time as whiter combind the newly found knolge of sciens with the scope of fiction, this enanbled whiter to whight beyond the sciens of the time ‘the sciens of our time had attackd but a little deparment of the human dieaease’.

Novles insiden this enshamra were often written to prove a point about modern society by looking at other fictitious societies, often dealing with aliens, diffehrent life and different places, often made predictions about life in the future and usually contained scientific information. The attraction of science fiction is that it is written with sufficient scientific basic to convince the reader that it just may be possible. Through out the novel there are very explicit science fiction characteristics.

The very first 3 words of the novel ‘The Time Traveller’ and indeed the actual title ‘The Time Machine’ show us that Wells is dealing with travelling through time which is a very popular science fiction subject, pioneered by this novel. It is a very ambitious idea, seen as other science fiction novels of the time like ‘First Man in the Moon’- H G Wells have, in time been accomplished and proven to be science fact, but such a subject as time travel still today remains sceins fiction.

Wells shows great understanding of time travel, as his language in the first chapter shows us, he discusses his theory of the ‘4th dimension’ his language in the first paragraph proves to be very scientific ‘the geomtrey, for instans, that they taught you at school is founded on a missconseption’ this stlye bof whiting shows the reltion ship between sicens and fiction, you wouldn’t find laauguegn like this on the first page of a standard fictiuon novel.

When in chapter 4 the time travler enbarkes on his jerney wells exploits another arya of sciensfiction by taking us to another unushwell place, and although the time traveller hasn’t actually moved into another place in space, Wells’ description of the future world is whrit with sufficient description and imagination to create a very different world – ‘evrything was sp enterly different from the world I had known. ‘ This feeling of being, is a different place, yet still strangely familiar ‘but the thames had shifted, perhaps a mile from its currant possition’ this is very clever writing.

This theme is very similar to ‘war of the worlds’ again by H. G Wells, because in war of the worlds, like in the time machine, although every one is on earth in the same place, the attack by the Martians make it a very different world to live in. However this novel is in contrast to ‘2000 Leagues Under The Sea’ by Jules Vern and ‘First Man In The Moon’ by H. G. Wells where the ‘different place’ that is very characteristic of science fiction is actually physically travelled to. Like many science fiction novels that deal with very different places, this novel deals with very different life forms.

In this novle the spechies the time travvle meets is ‘the eloy’ and ‘the morlocks. Wells continues to describe the 2 speches thrugh outthe novle ‘he was a slight creature perhaps 4 feet high’- the elloys and ‘half blonded and the colour ofn worms’- the morlocks, and alogh it seem that these creachers are undesirbull and primtive, again ther si a stage sens of fmiliarty that wells enables the reade to asoseyat with humans ‘the elioy had kept to much human form not to claim my sympthey’.

This arises the idear that wells it trying to get arcross that the morlocks and the eloy are what mankin g may evolv into. Although the idea that mankind, at the time when the novel was written, was leaning towards a morlock / elloy society, elloy beying upper class ‘I found them engayed in no toil’ and the morlock beying lower (working) class ‘machacial servent’ and ‘the toiler ashured of his life and work’ is a very implicit idea through out the book, and requires careful looking into to understand fully Wells point.

Yet this is probably the most important part of the story, because it is the reason Wells wrote the book, to prove a point about moden sosyitey and thrugh out the novle wells is trying to shock people by telling them what they may become ‘Were thes creachers fools? ‘-‘I fellt like a school master admist children’, which is another characteristic of science fiction.

The idea of upper and lower classes was written about around the same time by J. B. Priestly in ‘Inspector calls’ this provides a good comparison because this play is quite evidently not science fiction! And although this play is written very well it could be said that is has no where near the same appeal as the time machine, which is making the same point, yet has the scoop of science fiction. his point is also another major characteristic of science fiction in that it is predicting the future ‘the rich had been ashured of his welf and confort the toilor asherd of his life and wotck’ and ‘I grefed to think how brief the dream of the human interlect had been. It had committed seuiside. ‘ I think that Wells’ novel the time machine in a very accomplished science fiction novel. Not only does throughout the core of the story he fulfils the criteria for a science fiction novel, both in comparison to other novels and by definition, but he also makes it very believable.

He accomplishes this in many ways, the language through out the book persuades you that the time traveller has actually been to the future and back, also the way Wells has such a sound scientific knowledge and use very scientific language improves the realism a lot ‘I reached a strong suggestion of an extensive system of sub teraineyn venterlaton’ it make you bileve tat it is achlley the time trave spwaking beceauns wells gives enugh tenicnal laungueg to perswade you that the man whiting the book is intelligent enugh to make a time machine. ‘ment sliping like a vapor thrugh they interstices of intervening substances.

I also believe that it is very clever the way Wells make even his own characters not believe the time travellers story, this may seem like a bold thing to do, seen as he is trying to make it as believable as possible, but in fact it brings a great sense of reality to the story, and enables us to relate the story to every day life. It also enables the reader to have an opinion and posses the question ‘could this really happen? ‘ and ‘if this happened to me would I believe the time traveller in the story, in comparison to War Of The World where the story is a sherd experianc with the charcters and can only e entprted in one way by the reader.

The only chritisum I hav with the whiting in the novel id that the time traveller, for such an interlechwell man, is very quick to take sides with the eloy ‘my grace full children’ and ‘the eloy, the beutfull race I allredy new’ and to dislike the morlocks ‘I lothed them’ and ‘bleched, obseen nockternal thing’, just becaue of external apperanses when in fact tnhe morlocks were far superior in both technoligly and in interlect, but I’m sure wells has a reason for this.

In conclution I think wells has whit and well strrucherd novel. He contiusly uses strong imagery, metfors ans simley. He has a geat number of contasting word ‘light’ and ‘darkness’ and ‘night’ and ‘day’ to convay they extreme contast of his own fellings. To enthsise his points he offen uses allitration ‘helpless hedlon motion’ and dreaming most diagreble that I was drownd. He also uses all 5 sesis, sight, smell,sound, touch and taset to transport the reader into his own world. The novel is short enugh to keep the readers attention, yet detaild enugh to fully for fill the requiments fro a sciens fiction novel. The novel contains sicens fact that strengths the bilive in the fiction. The novle carfully evaluates the sosiytey of the time and by travling into the fucher whitch sheds light on a possibl fate.