collecting context for the Time Machine:

1) Luciano of samosata, True history.

Histories of science fiction, as opposed to ‘imaginative literature,’ usually begin, not with Plato or The
Birds of Aristophanes or the Odyssey, but with a work of the late Greek prose romancer Lucian of
Samosata,” Amis writes. He refers to what scholars now know as A True Story (Ἀληθῆ διηγήματα), a
novella-length fiction of the second century that has everything from space travel to interplanetary war
to technology so advanced — as no less a sci-fi luminary than Arthur C. Clarke would put it much later —
as to be indistinguishable from magic. At its core a work of fantastical satire, A True Story “deliberately
piles extravagance upon extravagance for comic effect” in a rather un-science-fiction-like manner.

A group of adventurers sail from Greece to the Atlantic Ocean and get shot up to the moon by a giant
water spout. When they arrive, they quickly get caught up in the war between the moon and the Sun
over the colonization of Venus.(this echoes the dispute between the morlocks and the Elois.)

Lucian intended the work to be a satire of contemporary sources, who describe the most ridiculous
myths as being true facts, so the work is packed with things even more exaggerated and absurd while
describing itself as an entirely true story. Similarly, H.G Wells attempts to criticize, dennounce, rebuke
the complacent and blind trust of technology, through showing that it can lead to counter-intuitive ans
disaterous effects.

the time machine echoes the Arabian nights in the use of the frame story technique.

The ebony horse in the Arabian nights:

the tale is interesting because it even borders on being ‘science fiction’ before the genre existed. It sees a
cunning inventor design an ebony horse which is capable of flying. A prince uses the horse to travel to
other lands, where he falls in love with a princess.

Persian inventor and sorcerer – shows the king a wooden horse made of ebony which, he claims, can fly.
This remarkable horse can cover in one day the same distance an ordinary horse can cover in a year.

Utopia by Thomas More:

Literary utopias are far older than their name. Plato’s Republic was the model of many others, from
More’s Utopia to H.G. Wells’s A Modern Utopia (1905). Other literary utopias, such as Jonathan Swift’s
Gulliver’s Travels (1726), are satirical, their aim being to ridicule existent conditions.

the figure of the time traveller resembles to the figure of hythloday, a character from Thomas Moore
book.
Hythloday describes the geography and history of Utopia. He explains how the founder of Utopia,
General Utopus, conquered the isthmus on which Utopia now stands and through a great public works
effort cut away the land to make an island. Next, Hythloday moves to a discussion of Utopian society,
portraying a nation based on rational thought, with communal property, great productivity, no
rapacious love of gold, no real class distinctions, no poverty, little crime or immoral behavior, religious
tolerance, and little inclination to war. It is a society that Hythloday believes is superior to any in
Europe

This ressembles to The time traveller's initial thoughts about the situation of the Elois and the
Morlocks.

ideas from the context of writing Utopia:

a comment on feudalis if we consider that the morlocks represent a future, beastial version of the
proletariat.

Humanists often argued against feudalism, seeing it as a society dominated by the rich and
exploitative of everyone else. Further, they saw feudal society as irrational, and, in many ways, as
paying only lip service to Christian ideals.

while More might not have envisioned Utopia as a perfect society, it is inarguable that he forwarded
utilitarian, rational Utopia as a criticism of the European world he saw around him. It is vital, then, to
understand that the book is a response to a specific historical time.

In a way, the Time Machine can be seen as a cautionary tale that warns against the inevitable, dire
consequences of the current situation of humanity in H.G Wells' tme.

Some notes:

"The Time Machine" is primarily a social critique of H.G. Wells's Victorian England projected into the
distant future.

Wells was a Socialist for most of his life with Communist leanings, and he argued in both his novels
and non-fiction works that capitalism was one of the great ills of modern society.

England was a leading force in the new economy: while industrialists reveled in their unbounded
wealth, droves of men, women, and young children toiled long hours for meager wages in dirty,
smoke-filled factories.
"The Origin of Species," Charles Darwin argued that different environments encouraged the
reproduction of those species whose varying traits best suited them to survive; their offspring, in turn,
would be better adapted for the new environment, as would their offspring, and so on.

Social Darwinism, developed by British philosopher Herbert Spencer, frequently misapplied this
concept of "natural selection" to justify 19th-century social stratification between the rich and poor.

evolution does not lead to the "perfectibility" of any species, as is generally perceived, but to the
increasing adaptability and complexity of a species.

Wells shows first how far human evolution will go if capitalism continues unhampered: mankind will
split into two distinct species, the ruling class (the Eloi in the novel) and the working class (the
Morlocks).

o counter the notion of evolution as perfection, Wells brings in the concept of entropy (from the
Second Law of Thermodynamics). The principle of entropy states that systems tend toward disorder
and loss of energy over time. The Eloi seem to embody the effects of entropy; they are lazy, have little
physical strength, and grow chaotically fearful when the Morlocks are near. But Wells truly shows his
hand in Chapter XI, when the Time Traveler advances thirty million years into the future and witnesses
the universe's gradual dissipation of energy

These apprenticeships, particularly one as a draper that Wells loathed, were deeply influential to his
lifelong political critique of the unequal distribution of wealth, a critique evident in The Time Machine

Wells, who had an interest in chemistry and biology, eventually apprenticed himself to a chemist and
earned a spot at a university where he studied biology with Thomas Henry Huxley. Huxley, known as
“Darwin’s Bulldog,” was a passionate proponent of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which is also
a notable presence in The Time Machine.

an important feature of the Time traveler: The Time Traveller, always the skeptic, is even inclined to
disbelieve his own experiences. Luckily there is evidence that the time machine has moved. Tying the
laboratory to the physical space of the garden and the Sphinx statue also emphasizes the tremendous
change throughout human history. Permanence is always an illusion.

This final section is deeply concerned with evidence, and it is notable that the Time Traveller is
returning to the future with a camera so that he can corroborate his own observations with physical
evidence. The Time Traveller is not simply interested in telling a story—he wants to prove what he saw
in order to make people listen to the lessons of the future. The scientist's ethical responsibility.

The Time Traveller went on another voyage in order to advance human knowledge, but this final
passage confirms that any quest for knowledge and human improvement must involve risk. This time,
it seems that the Time Traveller’s risk has not paid off. Furthermore, there is no longer any way of
proving or disproving the Time Traveller’s tale of the future.
Whether or not the Time Traveller is right about the future of man, the narrator reflects, it is
important to live as though he isn’t. Besides, the narrator has kept the two shriveled flowers of
Weena’s that remind him that “even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual
tenderness still lived on in the heart of man.”

even if it is true, the narrator finds solace that humankind didn’t lose kindness when it lost everything
else. This shows that, for the narrator (unlike, it seems, for the Time Traveller) kindness is a more
essential human characteristic than intelligence. And thus Wells ends his rather bleak book on a note
of slight optimism.

This can be a valuable idea in the discussion part.

Inequality and social class:

the economic writings of Karl Marx (who died just before The Time Machine was written) inspired
widespread critique of the exploitation of the poor by the rich. This class anxiety of the late
nineteenth century was particularly pronounced in Britain because of the rigidity of the social
hierarchy there—it was very hard under any circumstances for a person to escape the conditions of
the class into which they were born, which H. G. Wells, having grown up poor, knew well.

cautionary tale about the social conditions of Victorian England.

The Eloi are the descendants of the British elite, who, through the exploitation of the poor, have
created living conditions so easy and idyllic that the species has actually regressed, losing the
intelligence and strength that characterize present-day humans. Meanwhile, the Morlocks, the
descendants of the British working class, have toiled underground for so long that they’ve lost their
ability to see in the daylight and have resorted to cannibalism.

distinctions between these two species to posit that the divisions between social classes in Victorian
England are so stark and harmful that they could lead the human species to split into two different
species, each embodying some of the worst characteristics of humans.

The science fiction world of 802,701 then, is a dystopian projection into the future based on inequality
between Victorian social classes, but it is also simply an exaggeration to emphasize the social
conditions that were contemporary with Wells’ writing.

a quote from the novel: it seemed clear as daylight to me that the gradual widening of the present
merely temporary and social difference between the Capitalist and the Labourer, was the key to the
whole position.

Technology and science:

While many works of science fiction revel in the complex and exciting technologies of the future, The
Time Machine takes an opposite approach, positing that the Victorian era could be the technological
pinnacle of humankind, followed by a deterioration of the technological and cultural progress that
many people expect to continue indefinitely into the future.

he imagines something more complex: that technological progress could create living conditions so
idyllic that human progress and intelligence disappear, and so disastrous that humans could resort to
cannibalism. Technology in The Time Machine is then directly linked to both progress and to
intellectual decay and violence.

Wells is consistently ambivalent about the role of technology in human society

Eloi and Morlocks are more broadly symbolic of the dueling promise and peril of technological
innovation

At the same time, technology created ease, wealth, and freedom for the upper class, and punished
working and living conditions for the lower classes.

This duality is seen, too, in the time machine itself, which is both liberating and perilous.

Wells does not find an easy answer to whether technology is good or bad for humanity. On the one
hand, technological progress can improve lives, but, on the other hand, technology can destroy the
very conditions that make humans vibrant and capable, and it can exacerbate social divisions.

Nature, Human, and science:

In the late nineteenth century, when The Time Machine was written, many thinkers were trying to
make sense of Darwin’s new theory, which led to a proliferation of different, and sometimes
contradictory, ideas. Wells embraced some of those—the idea of natural selection itself, obviously,
and the idea that struggle is what produces strength—but he rejected social Darwinism, a set of ideas
positing that the human species could be improved by selecting only the “best” humans to reproduce.
The Eloi, who are the descendants of the British elite (and thus the people whom social Darwinists
would prefer to reproduce) have degenerated into a silly and helpless species, which challenges both
the idea of the inherent superiority of the upper classes, and the notion (a misinterpretation of
Darwin’s actual ideas) that natural selection means that humans will naturally improve forever. In fact,
a rigorous reading of Darwin suggests only that a species adapts to the conditions with which it is
presented—as in The Time Machine, the technology-enabled ease of the Eloi leads them to evolve in a
way that present humans would consider regression, an adaptation consistent with Darwin’s ideas.

Wells’ descriptions of the changed sky—there is no moon, the constellations are different, the
atmosphere is thin, and the sun is dying—are reminders that the human species is but a blip when
considered in the scale of geologic time.
serves as a reminder of the limited power of human beings to control their own fate and the fate of
the world at large. While the time machine itself is a feat of technology and innovation that seems to
promise mastery of humans over natural processes, the end of The Time Machine shows this notion to
be hubristic. The time machine is but an impressive tool—it cannot, itself, change the power or destiny
of human beings, or enhance their relatively minor role in the universe.

"Strength is the outcome of need; security sets a premium on feebleness"

For Wells, a large part of what makes humans special is their intelligence, ambition, and creativity, but
Wells rejects the notion that these are qualities inherent to humankind. He writes, “It is a law of
nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble.”
Since the Eloi live in a world without the motivating forces of adversity and fear (except for the threat
of the Morlocks, before which the Eloi are helpless), the Eloi have become less than human.
Conversely, the Morlocks (the descendants of the British poor) live in difficult conditions and are
fearful of one another due to the practice of cannibalism. As such, the Morlocks are a much more
capable (though less moral) species than the Eloi. This is a direct challenge to the kind of utopian
thinking that would consider a world without struggle to be the ultimate achievement of humankind.
If struggle and fear are part of what makes us human, then living in a utopia would, paradoxically, rob
human beings of their defining characteristics. An ideal world for Wells, then, is one in which humans
must work, strive, and take risks, but not to the point that they become depraved like the Morlocks.

kindness as a characteristic even more definitive of human beings than fear. Indeed, the endurance of
kindness is, perhaps, the only redemptive aspect to an otherwise bleak book.

Once the Time Traveller realizes the dark truth of the future, he returns to his own time in order to
raise the alarm to the people who might have the power to effect meaningful change. This, itself, is an
act of kindness and empathy on behalf of all people, and it embodies Wells’ idea that kindness is the
quality that redeems humanity from its depravities.

A good point:

Wells wrote The Time Machine at a moment when Freud’s ideas of the subconscious were becoming
widespread, and part of the eeriness of the world of 802,701 is its evocation of the human psyche.
Above ground, which can be seen as a parallel to the conscious mind, the Eloi are kind and fun-loving
and they live in harmony with one another. Underground, which parallels the subconscious, the
Morlocks are depraved and cannibalistic. The structure of the world 802,701 (in which the Eloi and
Morlocks are in conflict with one another but also interdependent) suggests that the kindness of the
Eloi and the fear and depravity of the Morlocks are inseparable in the human psyche, which is another
way of talking about the complexities of human nature.

Symbols:

Flowers

Flowers are important symbols in The Time Machine. They are the "mauve and purple" rhododendron
blooms the Time Traveller notices when he first lands on the little lawn in Chapter 3. They are bright
spots in the hailstorm, symbolic of the good he will find. Of course, rhododendrons are a shrub of the
present as well. They serve as a bridge between the two times he inhabits. The Eloi connection with
flowers is very strong. One bedecks him with "a chain of beautiful flowers" when he first meets him.
The afternoon of the day he saves Weena, she presents him with a "big garland" of flowers. They seem
to be an expression of love or affection whose meaning has not died even after thousands of years.
Then, of course, there are the two white flowers that the Time Traveller brings back. This particular
pair represents the tender feelings between another pair, himself and Weena. She picked them and
put them in one of his pockets. Their color symbolizes purity and innocence, that of the Eloi, who,
whatever their failings, can still care and love.

loi and Morlocks

The Eloi represent the elitism of the rich who bask in their wealth and do not work to contribute to
civilization. While they are beautiful and graceful, they are unintelligent and lazy. The Hebrew word
Elohim, meaning "God," may be the origin of the term Eloi, suggesting a fall from grace. On the other
hand, the Morlocks represent the poor working class who maintain survival skills at the cost of their
physical, emotional, social, and psychological lives. The Latin root mor, meaning "death," is suggestive
of the origin of the term Morlocks, implying a kind of living death.

White Sphinx

The White Sphinx is the first thing the Time Traveller sees upon arriving in the future. It is both a
fantasy, a guardian, a warning, and a mystery. A mythical creature combining features of several real
creatures—lion, human, eagle—the White Sphinx foreshadows the Eloi and Morlock who are also
human–animal hybrids. In Greek mythology, the Sphinx was the ominous guardian of the city of
Thebes. If a person guessed the riddle, he passed. If he didn't, he was killed. It is a warning to the Time
Traveller. Ultimately, the White Sphinx will turn out to guard the time machine for the Morlocks.
Finally, with its riddle it is a mystery, as is this land in which the Time Traveller has just landed.
Machines

Machines represent hope, but also danger. The time machine enables the Time Traveller to transcend
one of the basic limitations of the universe. It has incredible power but takes him to a vicious land. The
subways, railroads, and factory machinery of the 19th century Industrial Revolution represent
progress, but they also destroy the environment and dehumanize workers. The Morlocks' ventilators
allow them to exist, but to what purpose other than to prey on the Eloi? The machine is both the
greatest and perhaps the worst outcome of the human capacity for inventiveness and progress.

Light, Dark, and Fire

The associations with good and evil are evident throughout. As the Time Traveller travels, sun and
moon and day and night shift, as does the Time Traveller's mood between joy and fear. The Morlocks
live and thrive only in the dark. The coming of night fills both the Eloi and the Time Traveller with fear.
The desolate shore of the far future has a black sky, inhabited first by dark-red monster crabs and,
second, by a black-tentacled creature. By contrast, firelight is safety and life. The white of the two
flowers he brings back represents the affection between himself and Weena, the only such feeling
seen in the book. Only in the twisted far future world do the white butterfly and snowflakes disrupt
this association.

Fire appears as the ancient protector of humankind. It protects the Time Traveller from the Morlocks
with the matches he uses when he visits their tunnel, the campfires he lights to keep them away, and
the wildfire that eventually drives them off. However, it is also the likely cause of Weena's death.
Often a symbol of purification, the fire cannot cleanse this land of the Morlocks; it can only keep them
temporarily at bay.