Society and politics in “The time machine”
The term “time machine” was coined by H. G Wells, is today known by everyone to refer to that kind of vehicle. With this novel he also made up the term of “fourth dimension”, used by Wells to refer to that possibility of going anywhere in time, future or past.
The time machine created by Wells
His first novel was “The time machine”, in the plot, Wells sent the protagonist of the novel to the future with a time machine, exactly he goes to the 802.701 A. D. and finds there a society which is no intelligent and have no curiosity for nothing, they have adapted to the society of new technologies, where strength is not necessary.
Cover of a lately publication of the novel with the image of the machine
In the text it is understood that humanity and earth are being destroyed by our selves. The year that Wells chose for his protagonist’s travel to the future is not casual. A known writer in that period had forecasted the end of humanity in about one million years, so the time where the novel takes place is near to the date of the catastrophe.
The genre of the novel was a creation made by Wells, that is the early version of the lately called Dying earth, is a sub-category of science fantasy which takes place either at the end of life on Earth or the End of Time, when the laws of the universe themselves fail.
H. G. Wells was a writer of science-fiction novels, but he had a clear intention to create ideas, to speculate about political theories that were beginning at that times. He thought the future was responsibility of humans, if the future was later disturbing, it was the result of what we all have done before.
Talking about politics, as I have said before, Wells used his novels as a way of escape of his own ideals. He represented in this story his socialist political views and he reflects also a social degeneration; as we see when Wells presents us two defined groups inside the future society.
The novel treats fundamentally the fight of social classes. There are two kinds of humans that live in the earth in that future, the “Eloi” which are humans that have no intelligence, no strength and can’t write. We can say that they live in the surface of the earth; they are descendents of the capitalists. The other group is the “Morlocks”, creatures that live in the dark places of the earth, they are descendants of the proletariat and in the novel they finish dominating their old oppressors.
Although the “Eloi” are more similar to humans physically, they are condemned because of their passivity and their lack of character, the “Morlocks” keep some technical abilities and a bit of intelligence so they will be dominant race.
“Morlocks”, drawn as Wells described them.
Wells explain through these characters that social differences made humans divide in two degenerated races that have lost all the virtues of human race. Millions of years after us, human won’t be even a memory.
The author, during the novel is praising the virtues of humans through the absence of those virtues in the future. Through the “Eloi” he remembers us the importance of intelligence, initiative, solidarity, and through the “Morlocks” remember us the importance of civilization and beauty. Another thing that Wells describes is the landscape when his protagonist travels to a future where there aren’t humans anymore. He points out the necessity of protecting the nature and landscape. A reality that is very present nowadays and Wells could see more than a century ago.
Although Wells always writes negative political and social novels (in this case social), at the end he puts some hope for the humanity, in “The time machine”, the protagonist comes back at the end from the future saying to his friends that he went again to the future and he saw that there is still a chance for humans.