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During the late Victorian Britain, H.G. Wells became a literary spokesperson for liberal optimism and social reform. His scientific knowledge and literary capabilities led him to be one of the fore fathers of modern science fiction. In his novel The Time Machine, Wells, knowledgeable on the teachings of Charles Darwin and those of the Fabian Society, attempts to warn society that the brutality of capitalism and the plight of the laborer are not dealt with through social reforms then humanity will drive itself to extinction.
H.G. Wells was born on September 21, 1866 as Herbert George Wells in Bromley, Kent, England. He was the youngest child of Joseph and Sarah Wells. Although Herbert’s father owned a shop, the Wells family struggled with poverty while he was growing up. In 1874 at the age of seven, Wells, bedridden for several months with a broken leg, utilized this time and his passion for reading, pouring through many novels his father rented from their local library, which included novels from Charles Dickens and Washington Irving. At the age of 14 after losing their family’s shop and main source of income, Wells and his brother were set off to work, Wells found an apprenticeship with a draper at the Southsea Drapery Emporium, Hyde’s, while his mother began working at an estate as a housekeeper. After several unhappy months, Wells left his job as a draper’s apprentice and returned home much to his mother’s dismay. The experiences he gained as an apprentice, thirteen-hour long workdays and living in a crowded dormitory, would inspire some of his later novels, The Wheels of Chance and Kipp. After visiting the estate that employed his mother, he discovered the owner’s extensive library where he read various works from cla...
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...t only applies to the Elois and Morlocks but to the era Wells lived in and present day as well.
The brutal system of capitalism and widening gap between classes experienced by Wells during the late Victorian Britain leads him to join the Fabian Society and adopt socialist and liberal views. His personal schooling and scientific education allow him to think outside of the confines of society and help usher in social reform. The Time Machine embodies the problems of not only society during Wells’ time but modern society as well.
Works Cited
Partington, John. "H. G. Wells." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Biography in Context. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Toye, Richard. "H.G.Wells and the New Liberalism." Twentieth Century British History 19.2 (2008): 156-185. Oxford Journals. Database. 21 Nov 2013.
Johnson, Wayne L. “ Machineries of Joy and Sorrow: Rockets, Time Machines, Robots, Man vs. Machine, Orwellian Tales, Fahrenheit.” Rpt. In Modern Critical Views: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Ed. Harold Bloom. Broomall: Chelsea House, 2001. 17-19. Print.
Looking Backward is a Utopian novel written by Edward Bellamy. The story is about Julian West, an American who falls into a deep hypnosis induced sleep only to wake up hundred and thirteen years later. When he wakes up, he is still in the same location but in a totally transformed world (Bellamy 11). He has also been changed into a socialist utopia. The book illustrates Bellamy’s views about changing and improving the future hence, bringing out four major themes; advantages of a socialist system, perils of the stock market, use of credit card and engaging the industrial army to curb some occurrences. In his novel, Bellamy uses the term evolution to signify major changes in technology and economy. His views on economy and technology contrast Charles Darwin’s theory: Origin of Species. In this theory Charles acknowledges the 19th Century as an economic century and extends his politico-economic views of progress to the whole realm of vegetable and animal life.
H. G. Wells had rather extreme views in every respect. He was a prominent Fabian for some time and upheld many socialistic ideas that many still have a problem with. His views on human nature were pessimistic, the future was an eventual disappointment, but his writing is the kind that can capture the attention of many people from all ages and walks of life and draw attention to his ideas—which he did to great effect. What makes these books so fascinating? To answer questions such as these, it is imperative to know about the life of the man behind the books. Herbert George Wells was born on September 21, 1866 into a lower middle class family. He worked hard as both a student and assistant to multiple jobs before moving to London with a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Science. It was here that he was introduced to “Darwin’s Bulldog”, the eminent biologist T. H. Huxley, a man whose opinions helped shape Wells’ own for the rest of his life. Instead of becoming a biologist as recommended by Huxley, he became instead a teacher, and overworked himself until he fell into very bad health. On the doctor’s orders, he went to the south coast of England to rest until he ran out of money and returned to London. It was around this time that he met Frank Harris, editor of the “Saturday Review” newspaper, and began his careers as both a novelist and a journalist. Throughout the rest of his life he wrote steadily, averaging a little more than a book per year. In following his writing, one can see four distinct styles emerging throughout it all. At the beginning he went through a science-fiction phase containing books such as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and the Invisible Man. The second phase contained his “humorous Dickensian novel...
Science fiction is a genre that has evolved significantly over time, but has still kept its identity and essence of advanced technology and applied sciences alive. Over the years, a genre being read only by a minority is now the choice of billions. Visualizing and correlating various science fiction tales, such as “The Man Who Evolved” and “An Express of the Future”, brings out innumerable resemblances and variances between publications of this genre between the years. Published in different centuries, these tales, when compared, enable us to observe the change that has gone through in this genre, along with the constants that have remained with the genus since its start. Even though these stories have orientations of technology and themes that are poles apart in concept, the central theme that conceptualizes these narratives is that the future in store for mankind is common for both these stories, along with some similar literary elements.
In “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells, the author portrays, for the most part, that the choices humans make now cannot drastically change the outcomes in the far future. The obvious representation of social and political classes, even as the time traveler goes 800,000 years into the future, describes this more. The fact that, even 800,000 years later, there are still apparent classes that can determine an individual’s worth guides the reader towards the conclusion that even if an individual were to change the present, it would be impossible to avoid the very same mistake from being repeated in the future.
The men have the same physic as the women as there is no need to carry
“The Time Machine” can be seen as Wells’s socialist warning of what will befall humanity if capitalism continues to exploit worker for the benefits of the rich.
Howe, Tom. "George Orwell." British Writers Volume VII. Ed. Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Scribner, 1984. 273-287.
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
Another literary work which influenced science was H.G. Well’s science fiction novella The Time Machine. Set in England, the story follows the protagonist, known simply as “The Time Traveller”, as he visits ancient and future societies using his time ...
Wells. In this novel the human race is split into the working class and the aristocrat’s in the far future. Elio of the upper class, are small and very unintelligent. Morlocks, of the underground act as the working class. Over time, however, the Elio had become a food source for the Morlocks. What makes The Time Machine different from Metropolis is that in The Time Machine there is no one to act as the mediator between the two classes. Because of this, much further in time, the human race is eliminated and all that stands are giant crabs, in a waste land that is earth on its death
H.G. Wells was born on September 21, 1866 in Bromley, Kent a suburb of London. His father, Joseph Wells, and his mother, Sarah, were married in 1853 and they
Influence Thomas Huxley, famous biologist and H.G. Wells' teacher, once said. that "We live in a world which is full of misery and ignorance, and the The plain duty of each and all of us is to try to make the little corner he can influence somewhat less miserable and somewhat less ignorant than it was before he entered it" (Zaadz). In other words, we all have the duty to leave the world a better place by leaving our influence on others. The. At some point in our lives, we've all had someone or something.
The Time Traveller by H G Wells. 'Time Travel' For my English Coursework Wide Reading Assignment I have read two S F novels. Even though they were written over 50 years apart they are similar in some ways and different in others. Both the books were based around 'time travel'.
The African sense of time is a concept that I have actually been thinking about for a year now; last year Michael Costas began telling me about this idea after reading about it in one of his philosophy classes. The idea of “making time,” was and still is so exciting to me. Numerous times over the past year I have played with this idea of “making time.” After a thirty hour return trip from Cambodia this past summer this idea became more of a reality than an idea I tossed around. Due to our recent reading and discussion on this topic I have been able to understand and mentally explore this idea more carefully in the past couple of weeks.