My idea of the Time Machine

My Review of "The Time Machine"

Herbert George Wells' book "The Time Machine" portrays a different futuristic scenario than what most people of his time would have imagined. Though I do not at all agree with his portrayal, he did an excellent job describing what he believed and giving reasons to back up such a far fetched idea. In his book, H. G. Wells writes that eventually, in the far future, the world will just be total nothingness in complete darkness. Wells also says that through reverse evolution, humans will eventually once again become mutated animal-like creatures. We will split into lower and upper class and live in somewhat ignorance, not wanting to change or improve or find out how life could be made better. Through his great writing, Wells makes a very persuasive argument almost making such a thought believable. I believe Wells' way of writing is extremely specific with great word usage and allows a person to imagine exactly what Wells pictures. However, Wells at the same time allows the reader to use their own imagination.


The story begins with the Time Traveler showing a new concept of a Time Machine to his friends. Later, the friends find the Time Traveler missing, and when he returns, he looks very haggard and hurt. He tells them he has traveled through time. After the Time Traveler finishes his meal, he begins telling his friends of his great adventure.

The Time Traveler tells of when he first arrived eight hundred thousand years into the future. He saw small frail creatures who met him at his arrival. Spending time with these creatures, he learned many things about their way of life. He found their genders were very much alike, they only ate fruits, they were rather childish, and their world seemed to be perfect. Later he realized that his Time Machine had gone missing, but he suspected it was hidden under a large White Sphinx in its pedestal. Unfortunately no one would help him get it out. When he found one of the strange creatures drowning in a river, he immediately saved her even though no one else found it necessary to do such a thing. She was incredibly grateful. Through time spent with the creature named Weena as well as a frightening trip through a strange waterless well, the Time Traveler found these creatures were divided into upper and lower class, Eloi and Morlocks. The Eloi were deathly afraid of the dark, and the Morlocks were scared of light.

One day, Weena and the Time Traveler took a journey to the Palace of Green Porcelain. When they arrived they found it deserted and in ruins, but the Time Traveler picked up some important items such as matches for their trip back. During his trip back, many Morlocks crept upon them. While the Time Traveler was doing all he could to get rid of them, Weena fainted. All the matches he had lit set the forest as well as many Morlocks on fire. Sadly realizing Weena had died, the Time Traveler quickly ran to safety.

As the Time Traveler pondered back on what had happen to the world, he realized there must have been a time of perfection. He believed that intelligence came with problems and change. When there was no need for change, intelligence quickly left the human race as well. He later awoke to find the White Sphinx's pedestal's doors open. Though when he reached his Time Machine, the doors had shut and Morlocks crowded him. He quickly jumped into his Time Machine and flew out of that strange world. He accidentally pushed the lever in the wrong direction causing his machine to go further into the future. Eventually, the universe was lifeless and dark. The Time Traveler finally reversed the lever and headed back home.

None of his friends seemed to believe him, but he did not care. The next day, the Narrator visited him, but the Time Traveler told the Narrator to wait. When the Narrator peaked into the Time Traveler's laboratory, both he and the Time Machine were gone. Even after many years, the Time Traveler never returned.

The plot of this story seems somewhat strange but not incredibly original. The idea of a person traveling in time and meeting many problems and difficulties in his path seems rather normal in today's times. On the other hand, in the past, time travel may have been a whole new concept. Though time travel seems rather normal, what Wells imagines and writes to be on the other end is much different than what many writers would write about. Wells describes and pictures the far future and what it will be like as if it some how evolves back into the past. The humans once again become animal like; they are once again divided by class; and technology is so advanced to the point where there basically is none at all.

The characters seem relatively realistic because Wells has shown every possible opinion a person could have. Of course the Time Traveler believed everything he said. The Medical Man and the others concluded that everything the Time Traveler had said was just a lie and an entertaining made up story. The Narrator was not sure what to believe. With all of these opinions, it was easy to relate with the characters. Wells did an excellent job in allowing the Time Traveler mature immensely throughout the story. In the beginning of the book, the Time Traveler was selfish as he wanted only to get the information he needed and then leave the miserable place. By the end, he was storming up ideas of how to get rid of the wretched Morlocks and save the Eloi. He cared more about others than just himself to the point where he was willing to risk his own life for their benefit.


The outward appearances of the Eloi and Morlocks could be both believable as well as unrealistic depending on what you believe about Creation and Evolution. As a Christian, I do not agree with Wells idea that in the distant future humans will slowly evolve back into creatures that are more animals than human. Wells obviously believed in evolution and that such morphed ideas were possible. However the Bible clearly says that in the beginning, God made man. God did not make animals that eventually evolved into man. Neither will he, in the future, make men mutate and evolve into animals.

H. G. Wells also presumed that in the extremely far-off future around thirty million years later, human life as well as any living creatures at all would cease to exist. The Universe would be absolute darkness, and there would be completely nothing. As he believes the humans will turn back into animal like creatures, I would imagine he got this idea from the fact that the universe began as darkness. Wells than thinks that it will turn back into darkness. From a Christian perspective, the Rapture will occur before this time and all Christians will go to be with Christ. There will then be the Tribulation, and the New Heaven and New Earth will come.

I suspect that the strange depressing twists on Wells' books had to do with his own life and childhood. When he was a child, his parents lived apart, and they were rather poor. His father was a cricket player, but when he broke his leg, he was unable to continue his career. Because of this, at the age of fourteen, H. G. Wells had to quit going to school to acquire an apprenticeship to a draper. In two years he had failed at three apprenticeships, and though he was very smart, his lack of interest in subjects led him to many failed exams. Wells went through a multiple number of marriages. Because of all these troubles and hardships in his life, as time went on, H. G. Wells along with his books grew more and more pessimistic towards life and the world. Though H. G. Wells did not at all know what the future was really going to be like for he had never been there nor known anyone who had, he was able to use his imagination and what he did know about his society of his time to create a persuasive concept.


I would definitely recommend this book to any science-fiction lovers, or even those who are not a huge fan of science-fiction, who enjoy books which cause your mind to think. Wells' thoughts and ideas make you ponder and question what you believe and why. Wells' portrays his beliefs in an extremely creative way which makes his books insightful and believable while still being entertaining.

Interview with the Narrator

Here is an interview with the Narrator of the book "The Time Machine." These questions were asked a couple years after the Time Traveler had already gone back through time and had never returned.

1) Narrator, did you really believe that the miniature time machine the Time Traveler showed you really traveled through time?

Narrator: Well at that point in time, I really was not sure what to believe. That Time Traveler was quite a trickster, so at first I believed it was all just another trick of his. Now, however, I am guessing that it and he possibly did travel in time, though no one else seems to think so.

2) When the Time Traveler disappeared before supper, where did you believe he went?

Narrator: I honestly had no idea. I figured he just went into town or something simple such as that. Although it was all quite mysterious I must say.

3) What did you first think happened to the Time Traveler when he arrived all haggard and wounded?

Narrator: It was a very confusing and unbelievable event. However I suspected that he had simply been beaten up or something strange may have happened in his laboratory, but I most certainly did not expect him to have actually traveled through time.

4) When he was telling of his adventures through time, did you believe him then?

Narrator: Well, I must say that I did believe him more than the others. Though I still was not entirely sure what to believe. I supposed something must have happened to him. I just was not very sure what, and I did not believe everything he was saying was true. I thought that he may have possibly exagerated. After being cooped up in a room so long, who knows what kind of hallucinations may come upon a person.

5) Did you believe the future would turn out as the Time Traveler portrayed it? With Morlocks and Eloi?

Narrator: Though it somewhat makes sense to me now how such a future would come about, before the Time Traveler spoke of it, I can say that I honestly did not believe such a strange thing would become of this world we live in. I knew we would improve our technology to a great degree after hundreds of thousands of years, which was where the Time Traveler said he had been, but I definetely did not believe it would be to such an enormous degree as to where the universe would almost disappear into darkness. It is a rather scary idea if I do say so. I do know however that that Time Traveler was not always right in the mind, so for him to come up with such a conclusion is not all that surprising.

6) Why did you go back to see the Time Traveler the day after he had told you his story?

Narrator: I was so confused at the time. I did not know what to believe. The Medical Man and all the others seem to know so surely what they believed. In their minds, they absolutely knew that the Time Traveler was not at all telling the truth, and what he said was just a story of his imagination. I, however, was not so sure. I went back the next day simply because I wanted to find the truth. I hoped talking more to the Time Traveler would help me make my decision. If it were true, then I would want to hear much more about this dark future we have ahead of us.

7) You went back to find the Time Traveler, but he was gone. What to you think happened to him?

Narrator: I now believe he traveled in time. To where I do not know. How he spoke of Weena makes me assume that he went back to see her.

8) Where do you believe he is now?

Narrator: I am not sure. For all I know, the Morlocks could have gotten him and he could be dying as we speak. He could have gotten lost in time. He could have stayed to live happily with Weena and the Eloi, and he could have helped save them from the Morlocks. His Time Machine could have broken down and he could be stranded in the past with cave men. I really do not know.

9) If you had the oppurtunity, would you travel to the future?

Narrator: The adventure sounds exhilerating. However, I am too much of a home body to take such a dangerous journey. I am comfortable with the time zone I am in now. I do wish however, that the Time Traveler had brought back with him some of the future for me to see with my own eyes without me having to travel there. Also, how the Time Traveler told of it, the future does not sound like such an amazing place as the people of today imagine it to be.

10) Do you think you would pursuade the others to believe that the Time Traveler actually went to the future and what he said was actually all true?

Narrator: I can barely pursuade myself! I do not think I could pursuade anyone else. If what the Time Traveler said was in fact true, I think he would have to tell them himself. What they wish to believe is not my choice. I somewhat do not want to believe what the Time Traveler says. I want to believe the future is a much happier place.

Links on "The Time Machine" and H. G. Wells

Here are some links that I have posted related to H.G. Wells and 'The Time Machine."

"The Time Machine" Jan. 08 play website:

A theatrical play performed this past January in Hollywood based on the Time Machine.

All about H.G. Wells' Time Machine :

On this website you can read about H.G. Well's childhood, some reviews on "The Time Machine," and even what President Roosevelt and H. G. Wells himself said about 'The Time Machine."

Book and Film Comparison:

This site compares H. G. Well's "Time Machine" to the recreated film. It also points out some facts and ideas of H. G. Well's books.

H.G. Wells - Biography and Works:

Here you can learn all about H. G. Wells and how we thought of his story ideas. You can read about the people who impacted his life, and find out exact dates of many of his events.

Chapter 12 (Last chapter!!)

The Time Traveler reversed the levers of his Time Machine and began heading back in time. He eventually arrived back in his laboratory, and nothing had changed. The only difference was that his machine had started in the south-east corner of his workshop and was now in the north-west, exactly under what would be the White Sphinx pedestal where the Morlocks had dragged it. The Time Traveler heard the others chattering and dining, and at the smell of wholesome meet, he joined them. He told them he did not expect them to believe it. No one did seem to believe, but when the Medical man asked for the Time Traveler's flowers to examine them, the Time Traveler told him absolutely no. The Time Traveler himself then began questioning whether he did actually travel in time, but when he went out to see his Time Machine, he knew it was real. The next day the Narrator went to see the Time Traveler, and the Time Traveler told him that if he waited half an hour, he would be back and talk with him. However, the Narrator remembered that he had an appointment, but when he went to tell the Time Traveler, the Time Traveler and the Time Machine were both gone and never returned.

Chapter 11

Now the Time Traveler had very speedily gotten into his Time Machine to get away from the evil Morlocks. He later noticed however that he had pushed the levers forward rather than reversing them. This meant he was going farther into the future. The atmosphere grew grayer and more dim throughout the years he traveled. He assumed that eventually the earth had just stopped rotating keeping one side towards the sun and one side in the darkness. As he traveled farther in time, huge crab-like creatures began surrounding him. The thin air made it hard for him to breathe as if he were climbing a mountain. After traveling millions of years forward in time, the earth was lifeless, and the cold chilled air was upon him. He thought he saw what could be a life form, but he was about to faint so he sat back in his Time Machine.

Chapter 10 (Woohoo! Double digits!)

As the Time Traveler sat in the exact location at which he sat when he first arrived, he laughed at what he first thought the future to be. He reflected and concluded that at some point in human history, there must have been a time of peace and perfect harmony. He also believed that intelligence came with danger, problems, and necessary change. This is why when life was problem less and needed no change, human intellect quickly decreased. When the creatures of the under-world needed another source of meat, they simply turned to their instincts which they believed allowed such a thing. Waking up before sunset, the Time Traveler headed to the White Sphinx and found that the pedestal's bronze panels were open, and at the corner of the small apartment sat the Time Machine. As he approached his Time Machine, the bronze panels shut creating complete darkness. The Morlocks came upon him. He pulled out a match only to find that he could not light it without the box. The Time Traveler hurriedly climbed into his Time Machine, and off he went.

"Conference on the Control of Time and Space"

It'd be interesting to know what this conversation sounded like.

Chapter 9

The Time Traveler and Weena traveled through the dark woods so that they could reach the other side before resting for the night. Suddenly, the Time Traveler felt Morlocks creeping upon him. He immediately lit a match and a lump of camphor to scare them away. Weena had fainted, and he had no idea of which direction was out so he decided they must stop where they were for the night. Morlocks were surrounding them, and eventually they once again had their hands upon him. He reached for his match-box, but it was missing! The Time Traveler grabbed his iron lever and hit the Morlocks away until he was free. He suddenly saw his first fire come upon them, and the fire was quickly lighting the entire forest. Weena was missing, but he hurridly ran with the Morlocks free from the fire. The Morlocks however were helpless, for the bright fire had blinded them. It was soon morning, and the Time Traveler was saddened by Weena's death. He felt loneliness come upon him as he headed back towards the White Sphinx, and he terribly wished he was back home.

Chapter 8

At noon, they finally reached the Palace of Green Porcelain. However, they found it deserted and in ruins. The Time Traveler noticed many fossils and preserved objects in glass cases of his own time and came to the conclusion that this place was some sort of museum, library, or historical gallery. Weena became apprehensive so the Time Traveler took a lever to be used as a weapon against any Morlocks they may encounter. He also found matches in one of the air-tight cases which could also be used against the evil Morlocks. By the time they had finished their adventure, it was getting dark so he decided to stop for the night with his fire lit.

Chapter 7

The Time Traveler took Weena with him to the Palace of Green Porcelain. On their way, they encountered thick woods. Not wanting to walk through the feared darkness, they stopped for the night. The thought came to him that the meat the Morlocks were eating were in fact the Eloi. When it was light, they continued through the no longer frightening woods. The disturbing thought however remained in the Time Traveler's mind. He quickly thought of necessities he needed in order to remain safe.

Chapter 6

The Time Traveler was very curious about the waterless well, and he decided that he must go down to see the world below. When he reached the completely dark bottom, the huge machinery's noise was blaring, and he found that the large dark shadows were carnivores for shed blood was in the air. The creatures examined the Time Traveler in a manner that gave him fear and the urge to run. They followed after him, and the only way to keep them away was to strike a bright match. As he began up the shaft, the Morlocks got a hold of him, but he kicked furiously and lit his last match until he was free. By the time he reached the land of the Eloi he was about to faint.

Chapter 5

All of a sudden, the Time Traveler noticed that his Time Machine had gone missing. He later suspected it was in the pedestal of the White Sphinx. However whenever the Time Traveler asked someone to open the panels of the pedestal so he could get it out, they looked at him disgusted. Some of the strange people were bathing in the river, and one began drowning. No one seemed to care, so he decided to save her himself. She was very grateful and they became friends. He wasn't sure why, but he noticed that these creatures seemed to be afraid of the dark. They were also divided in class, upper class and lower class.

This picture is not entirely relevant to this specific chapter, but it has Weena, the girl the Time Traveler saves, in it. It also gives an illustration of what the strange land may have looked like.

Chapter 4

The strange creature did not seem to be afraid at all, and soon other creatures followed him. They began touching him and his time machine and tried to speak to him to see if he was real. The Time Traveler expected the future people to be smarter and more knowledgeable, but they actually seemed a lot less smart and more childish than the people of his own time. He found that all the future people ate only unrecognizable fruits because most common animals had become extinct. The Time Traveler decided to begin learning their language. He found that the genders of the people were strangely alike as well. Nature seemed to be perfect without disease, weeds, or poverty, and everything and everyone seemed to exist in harmony.

Chapter 3

The Time Traveler begins his story. He tells how at first he was not sure if he had in fact traveled forward in time, but then he saw the clock and found it was in fact true. He began traveling faster and faster into the future until he was traveling through years in seconds. Finally, he slowed down and saw a four foot tall creature which he thought to be very graceful but frail.




Here is an obviously much more recently drawn picture of what H.G. Wells may have imagined the Time Machine to be.

Chapter 2

The characters did not really believe the Time Traveller, and they figured it was just a trick of his. When it was time for dinner, the Time Traveller could not be found so they ate without him. He later arrived very haggard and warn out looking. He left to change and came back looking as fresh as he normally did. Everyone wanted to hear an explanation, but he was starving so he told them he must eat first. After finishing his meal, he began his story.

Chapter 1

The story starts with the Time Traveller speaking of the idea of a time machine. He speaks of how it must be possible, and displays his invention which he claims to be a miniature time machine. He activates it, and it suddenly disappears. The characters discuss where it could have possibly gone, the past or the future.

Full Text

Hello! Welcome to my blog. Here is the full text of "The Time Machine."