The Time Machine : A Social Critique

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, good vs. evil is the biggest theme. This story is seen as a metaphor about the good and evil in everyone, and the struggle of the two sides in everyone’s personality. Since Hyde starts to take over, I could argue that evil is stronger than good. But, Mr. Hyde ends up dying in the end of the story, so I could claim that the good of someone can overcome the evil in you. Overall, Stevenson is trying to communicate with the reader about the balance of good and evil in humans, also that your balance of good and evil has different results/effects in your life.

In this essay I am going to discuss Wells' use of contrast in the Time

Projections that have been made about how today’s society and culture will look in the coming years, decades, and centuries, all have yet to be seen in how valid they are. If you look in any sort of media: television, social media, or radio/music, you will see people giving their interpretations of what will become of our world down the road. Yet, few people look to see how our the current state of culture and society reflect the projections made by people in previous years, decades, and centuries. In looking at the visions of the future presented by both novelas, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, and The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, each story presents aspects of society that prominently appear today. Written during the Industrial Revolution, a time where technology and human innovation was at one of its highest points in recent history, both stories explore the possible effects of the machinery that was becoming evermore present. Both authors present aspects such as omnipotent technology, decaying human independence, and destruction of real communication, to create the artistic statement that complacency is rising within the human race, and that complacency will eventually lead to the fall of mankind. In both stories, the authors speak against human complacency and deference to technology, warning that it will lead to the creation of weaker people and society that will ultimately destroy the human race, yet that complacency is present in today’s culture and due to the

It says in the text, “‘I stopped very gently and sat upon the Time Machine, looking round. The sky was no longer blue. Northeastward it was inky black, and out of the blackness shone brightly and steadily the pale white stars’” (Wells 132). This proves that the author develops the theme through the setting because there are no problems with the setting of the future time. Therefore, the Time Traveler makes no progress because nothing is going on in the setting.

Seemingly, the flowers represent Elisa. She believes she is strong and tough and able to accomplish anything thrown her way; however, taken for granted as she is only a woman allowed to look and act accordingly. Surrounding the flowers is a wire fence set up to keep out predators and to separate the flowers from the rest of the farm. The wire fence is symbolic in the fact that it is identical to the world Elisa lives in. Elisa is contained within the farm, unable to explore or leave without the help of someone else. Elisa is stuck on the farm, isolated from the rest of the world so that she can be kept safe. Naive and unaware of how the world works, her husband keeps her on the farm to protect her from harm. When Elisa gives the chrysanthemum to the travelling merchant, she gives him a small piece of herself. Later, as her and her husband are driving to town, she sees the flower tossed aside as though it was nothing; as a result, she realizes she could never go off on and live the way the merchant had. The flowers embody her character still, and how out of her home without protection, the world can be harsh and cruel. In short, Elisa’s isolation leaves her ignorant, unable to understand how callous the world is, and comes to the bleak realization that she can’t live a life anywhere outside of her fence. Because of how women were treated, constantly pushed down and unable to pursue their interests, Elisa is left unable to learn what life has to offer. Learning

For decades, Looking Backward has been an influential novel since it focuses on the idea of social reform. The novel’s publication was in 1888 during an era when most Americans were afraid of violence associated with the working class. Another relevant aspect that disgusted a majority of individuals in public was the idea that conspicuous consumption is only for the privileged minorities in the American society. Intense demonstrations commenced following the emergence of labor unions, as well as large trusts that became a central factor in the nation’s economy. Arguably, the author managed to make the novel extraordinarily popular among the middle-class by painting a portrait of Americans who behold the possibilities of a desirable future.

Evil and Good are two opposite entities. Similar to Ying and Yang, evil and good are often cohesive and usually alternate within one's choices in a person's life. Evil and good exist in every human being and everyone is given free will to choose their option. Evil is the action of someone to cause harm to others maliciously while good is performing an action for the benefit of someone else without harmful intent. A major cause of evil is immoral temptation, which the main characters of The Devil and Miss Prym, The Crucible and Ethan Frome experience with the archetype the temptress; The temptress encompasses all three stories as the protagonists weave their way through troubling vices such as infidelity or greed which may ruin their life as

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is considered a “classic” in today’s literary community. I also believe that this novel is a good book. It was an interesting story the first time I studied it, and I have found new ideas each time I have read it since. It is amazing that such a simple narrative could have so many complex ideas. Unfortunately, some do not take the same position that I do. They cast it off as a silly little novel that deserves no merit. Obviously I disagree with these critics. The Time Machine follows the criteria that I believe a good novel should have. A good novel should include an element of fantasy and should stimulate ideas in the audience that they never came to realize before.

Good and evil are symbolized by light and darkness in the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. When there is peace and good, Shakespeare mentions light; whether if it is the sun shining brightly or merely a candle giving light. On the other hand, when there is evil and disorder, he mentions darkness; a shadow or a horrible thunderstorm. Witches are known for evil, chaos, and conflict. Since Witches are known to be evil, whenever they appear, the weather is usually horrible. Shakespeare utilizes light and darkness in order to portray when good or evil will take place.

The next character is the Time Traveler himself, who remains nameless throughout the whole novel. He is an inventor with an infatuation of the future and Darwin's theory of the fourth dimension. The Time Traveler is middle class citizen, just as Wells was in his day. The traveler is highly concerned with the world to come and has spent years perfecting his spectacular machine. " 'It took two years to make,' retorted the Time Traveler."(Wells Pg.14)

Before the reader can identify good prevailing over evil, they must know who represents the evil and who represents good. For example, the monster, Grendel is a symbol of evil. He is characterized as a demonic creature, living down in the darkness. He gets exasperated rather easily and

In 1895 H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine was published and dealt with the issues that were prevalent during 1890s Britain, such as social inequality, which similarly affects society today. In this short story, Wells

The Theme of Humanity in the Time Machine H.G Wells was born in Bromley Kent on the 21st September 1866. He had attended school called Midhurst Grammar in 1883, soon after he had gone to the normal school of science in London. There he had learned biology, which could lead to why he had written science fiction novels. He had left the school without the qualifications to become a writer. He began his career as a writer in 1893 and then continued to create stories, such as the Time Machine.

Masked within every story, we uncover two components that together reveal all emotion, uncertainty, and themes that are bound together by words. This is the constant pull and fight for balance between good and evil. All stories contain a highly praised, moral being at the focal point, followed by a severely loathed enemy who desires destruction. In our minds we perform this storyline according to our lives, usually placing ourselves as the mighty hero, and all things unjust to us, placed as the enemy. These two simple characteristics combined, create a complex illustration of what is formed together within each person. What is it that brings the good to a hero and the evil to a villain?

One sunny spring day, Rachel arrived home from a long day of school. As she set down her backpack, she casually walked to the kitchen to begin preparing a snack. When she was opening the cabinet door she saw an odd looking light coming from the kitchen window. She also heard a small bang and the neighbor’s dogs begin to bark. She thought to herself what the light and noise could have been. It was too bright to be headlights from the neighbor's car or really anything else. Rachel slowly approached the door to her backyard, slightly afraid of when she will find outside.