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Analysis of The Time Machine Essay

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Analysis of The Time Machine The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is considered a “classic” in today’s literary community. I also believe that this novel is a good book. It was an interesting story the first time I studied it, and I have found new ideas each time I have read it since. It is amazing that such a simple narrative could have so many complex ideas. Unfortunately, some do not take the same position that I do. They cast it off as a silly little novel that deserves no merit. Obviously I disagree with these critics. The Time Machine follows the criteria that I believe a good novel should have. A good novel should include an element of fantasy and should stimulate ideas in the audience that they never came to realize before. …show more content…

The Time Traveller encounters two races of regressed human beings the Eloi and the Morlocks. The Eloi are frail creatures, no taller than four feet. They pass their time frolicking in the fields. They do not seem to be interested in the continuous pursuit of intellectual advance or technological progress which would assuredly make their lives much easier. Unlike the Eloi, the Morlocks are subterranean creatures. They are carnivorous, cannot tolerate the daylight and they feed upon the helpless Eloi at night, whom they breed like cattle. These two races seem to be manifestations of human characteristics that would only be harmful. The Eloi represent those who live off of human emotion and activity, and are plagued by premature decrepitness and degeneration. They survive off the hard work of others. The Morlocks represent an industrialized society in a negative fashion. They are slovenly, unaesthetic and lack a sense of beauty needed to appreciate life. Wells’s believes that these traits would lead to a degeneration of society.

While these concepts are new and different to those who read Wells’s novel, the main idea that revolutionized science fiction was the introduction of the time machine. The time machine has become a staple in the science fiction genre. Many movies incorporate the idea of a vehicle that can move the characters years ahead or behind the present. The time machine is integral to the fantasy aspect of the story. A fantasy is fiction made

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