H.G. Wells' The Time Machine

When the time traveler thought of the future he made assumptions that would suggest that the in the future, society would act in a progressive manner. He believed that society would be free of disease, that the human species would be very advanced compared to the humans in his time, and that the human beings in this society would not know fear because of their advances in technology. These assumptions are soon proven false early on when the time traveler thought he “…had built the time machine in vain” (21). The Sphinx puts pressure on a progressive time by suggesting that society does not progress all the time but will eventually regress.

When the time traveler notices that the Sphinx, “was greatly weather-worn, and that imparted an unpleasant suggestion of disease.” that shows that this futuristic society was not free of disease (18). Within his first encounter with the Eloi he was wondering, “ were these creatures fools?” this shows that his assumptions that humans would advance was false (21). His assumptions about how this futuristic society would not know fear is also disproven when nighttime comes around and, because of the Morlockss, the Eloi seem to be “…reacquainted with fear” (49). In this society, the idea that advancement in time is related with advancement in society is proven false. The better relationship that can be seen is the regressive relationship that is seen within the riddle of the Sphinx where first man walks on 4 legs then they progress to walking on two legs, and finally they regress to walking on three legs.

Once a society progresses to a point when it reaches a utopia forward progression is then stopped. This idea is present within the time traveler’s thought process while he is going to t...

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...ds. It is a mistake to do things so easily” (11). This in turn will affect progression, because it is hard to move forward when nobody believes in one another’s ideas or their manners.

In The Time Machine, the time traveler had many assumptions about the future. The more time he spent in this futuristic society the more he realized that his assumptions were false. Humans were successful in reaching a utopian society but as a result further progress was stopped and humans started to regress instead. The Sphinx ,being the first thing that the time traveler notices in this futuristic society, becomes a symbol of how man first progresses but then will eventually regress. Despite this pessimistic idea, Wells still upholds the hopeful, fin de siècle, idea of new beginnings, and believes that despite everything humans should still try to progress.