Argumentative Essay On The Time Machine

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Machine In The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, the Time Traveller first visits the year 802,701, where Wells begins to establish that humanity has split into two opposite and startling sub-species, the Eloi and the Morlocks, similar to “modern” humans. After his associations with the Eloi and finally outsmarting the Morlocks, the Time Traveller escapes millions of years into the future to a period devoid of human life, and once more after that to see the final devolution of man. With these experiences centuries into the future, it is clear Wells does not possess an optimistic outlook on his interpretations of the future, but rather one of regression. Wells’ idea that humanity is doomed to devolution and eventual extinction is shown through the …show more content…

The effects humanity has had on Earth are still apparent to the Time Traveller when he arrives: the Earth is free from weeds, gnats, and disease; a plethora of sweet fruits, beautiful butterflies, eradication of disease creates a social paradise, an Eden. Man has obtained complete control of his environment to his absolute satisfaction, and the “struggle for existence” (40) has been eliminated as a result of man’s manipulation of the Earth in the pursuit of perfection. With this Wells, through the Time Traveller, asserts a pessimistic Darwinian devolution theory that asserts itself in the pursuit of perfection. The Time Traveller states that “hardship and freedom…[cause] the weaker [to] go to the wall” (40) and in the year 802,701 “the weak are as well-equipped as the strong” (41). By obtaining control over the natural world, humanity has prevented Darwinism from occurring, and in doing so, humanity itself struggled no more, creating an equalization of intelligence among the Eloi. An equalization is not portrayed to be desirable, the Eloi have a limited attention span, and are often described to be acting like

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