The Time Machine (1895)
By H.G. Wells
Adaptation; Evolution; Posthuman; Race; Science fiction; Speciation; Victorian
When a Victorian scientist travels into the future in his time machine, he discovers that the human race has split into two species: the beautiful, peaceful but weak Eloi and the dangerous, animalistic Morlocks.
In Wells’s famous novel, an unnamed scientist known only as “The Time Traveller” tells the story of his adventures in the future to a roomful of distinguished dinner guests, one of whom narrates the novel. Using the time machine he has invented, the Time Traveller journeys to the year 802, 701 AD. When he arrives, he encounters a civilization of gentle, child-like creatures whom he soon learns are frivolous, indolent, and dull-minded, despite their beauty and innocence. This androgynous race, called the Eloi, live in communistic harmony: everyone looks the same, dresses the same, eats the same diet consisting entirely of fruit, speaks the same extremely simplistic language, and sleeps together in palace-like buildings. The world around them has become a “ruinous splendor;” the Eloi do not work and do not have any semblance of technology; they simply play all day. The only thing they fear is the dark of night. On his second day there, his time machine disappears and the Time Traveller is trapped in the future until he can recover it. Soon after, the Time Traveller befriends a female Eloi named Weena after he saves her from drowning, and he begins to understand that, despite their weaknesses, the Eloi do still have the capacity for fierce love and loyalty. But the Time Traveller sees other creatures in this future world as well: dull white, red-eyed, hairy, ape-like creatures. This other race, the Morlocks, live in a series of underground tunnels and caverns and because they do still have technology and seem to take care of the Eloi’s clothing and disposal needs, the Time Traveller assumes that the human race has split and that the Morlocks are an inferior, servant class. He soon discovers, however, that the Morlocks are carnivorous and hunt the Eloi at night to sustain themselves. The Time Traveller suspects the Morlocks have taken his time machine and so journeys down into their caves to retrieve it, but he is outnumbered and soon returns to the surface protected by the matches he brought with him from the past. The Time Traveller then takes Weena to an old museum he finds on the outskirts of the Eloi civilization; there he finds more matches and weapons to use against the Morlocks. On their way back, the Morlocks attack in the dead of night and Weena is lost. The Morlocks set a trap for the Time Traveller by opening the doors to the giant sphinx-shaped structure where the time machine is being kept. He escapes in the nick of time and travels further into the future to witness the twilight of earth long after all human-like life is extinct. He then returns to his own time to share his story before disappearing with the time machine once more, never to be heard from again.
The Time Traveller is disheartened by what he deems the degeneration of humanity and constructs a series of hypotheses to explain the societies he encounters in the future. His best guess regarding the Eloi is that humanity reached such a pinnacle of advancement that disease, famine, and violence all disappeared, leaving humanity to devolve without basic daily struggles to continually exercise their mental and physical capabilities. The Time Traveller theorizes that the Morlocks were originally a servant class forced underground long ago, but because of the Elois’ increasing dependence upon them, the much more dramatically degenerated race eventually gained supremacy, hunting the Eloi like prey. Wells’s novel depicts a fate for humankind that stands in stark contrast to his contemporaries’ and own dreams of the future. The Time Traveller himself remarks on his dismay at discovering the evolution of his species; he expected unfathomable technological advances and intellectual genius, but he found something much different. Wells’s novel offers a warning regarding evolution and are aspirations for our future. Once humanity reaches the pinnacle of it capabilities, it can only deteriorate.
Evaluation: This short novel teaches very well, engaging students in both the concept of time travel as well as in the possible evolution of the human species. Well’s Time Traveller offers many evolutionary theories to explain the Eloi and Morlock civilizations.
– Lauren Wood Hoffer