Fear In The Time Machine

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In H.G. Wells’ 1895 novel, The Time Machine, a time traveller travels to the English countryside of 802,701 AD, where he discovers the descendants two descendant species of humanity: the Eloi and the Morlocks. Although both species are humanoid in nature, the idyllic Eloi are hunted by the Morlocks, who are in all other aspects subservient to them. The Morlocks act as the antagonists of the book, inspiring fear in the reader in a myriad of ways.
Primarily, the Morlocks appearance is their most sinister aspect, especially in comparison to that of the Eloi. The Eloi possess ethereal, fragile beauty, graceful and gentle natures, and are adorned in soft purple robes, making them regal in appearance (Wells and Bould, 1895). This belies the Eloi’s …show more content…
Darkness to her was the one thing dreadful. It was a singularly passionate emotion.
Although her confidence in the time traveller is sufficient to lure her outside to sleep, she insists upon sleeping in the time traveller’s arms, lest she come to harm, and continues to display signs of distress even after five nights of respite outside. Although this fear is a result of the predator-prey relationship between the Eloi and the Morlocks, the implications of Weena’s distress amplifies the eeriness of the Morlocks.
Furthering the trepidation inspired by the Morlocks is their uncanniness. In Freud’s 1919 essay, “The Uncanny,” Freud defines an uncanny experience as one which (Freud, 2003): occurs either when infantile complexes which have been repressed are once more revived by some impression, or when primitive beliefs which have been surmounted seem once more to be …show more content…
Primarily, this is the result of the Morlock’s appearance; although the Morlock is distinctly “other,” they are also inherently humanoid, to such an extent that the time traveller compares them to a “human spider” upon his first sighting (Wells and Bould, 1895). As they are inherently humanoid, but also predatory, the time traveller is forced to reconcile the notion that the darkest aspects of humanity prevail in a utopic society, despite millennia of evolution. However, even more disturbing implications the Eloi and Morlock society has for the division of classes. Although the Eloi are the proletariat of the society, they remain contingent upon the Morlocks for society to function. However, the social separation in the millennia leading to 802,701 AD was such that it led to the Morlocks and Eloi evolving into two entirely separate species. Furthermore, the Morlocks, despite being forced to live below ground, had ascertained power over their Eloi overlords, who are now naught but livestock due to the extinction of other meat sources (Beaumont, 2006). The Time Traveller subsequently has difficulty reconciling the class division in the society of 802,701 AD, especially given his opposition to the consumption of Eloi due to their humanoid
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