Hg Wells Time Machine

Words: 515
Pages: 3

Written by HG Wells in 1895 during the Victorian era. After being exposed to Darwinism in school, H.G. Wells converted from devout Christian to devout Darwinist.

A time traveller discusses his theory with a group of men. He tells them about their journey:

He had finally finished work on a time machine and it rocketed him into the future. He is in the year 802,701 AD. He finds himself in the presence of creatures called ELOI. They had large eyes, curly hair and thing red lips. He sees the beautiful Eloi and their graceful temples. There are no signs of gender and no old people. They had very childish behavior. He felt that it is hardship that keeps man intelligent and strong.

He later finds out while looking for his time machine that deep underground there are these creatures called Morlocks. To his horror, he
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That my graceful children of the upperworld were not the sole descendants of our generation but that this bleached, obscene, nocturnal thing which had flashed before me was also heir to all ages. "

Time period: 1895 was a period of growing industrialism, natural sciences, evolution and social inequality. The book takes the idea of social darwinism to the extreme, imagining that different classes of society have become distinct species descended from modern man.

At Welles time there was a huge disparity between the rich and the working classes. The middle class was still relatively new. The upper class would live in luxury and comfort while the lower would work in mines, factories and farms.

Welles also brings in the idea of natural selection. The lower classes - Morlocks become nocturnal and live underground because they evolved to the environment they were socially assigned to - factories, mines etc. And the upper classes who pursued pleasure and comfort devolved in size, strength and intelligence who are now