Essay about "The Time Machine": A Social Critique of Victorian England

The world today consists of children roaming the streets, technology taking over the world, and being able to work wherever you'd like but, could you imagine a life without all these things? Believe it or not there was a time in life where these things were very uncommon to see. This would be known as the victorian era. This time period was between 1837 and 1901. Daily life was very different from now. Health, social classes, and fashion are just three examples of how daily life was different in the victorian era.

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.

The working class can relate to the theme of the short story “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket,” by Jack Finney. More often than not, people strive to get to the top of their profession, but at what cost? The majority of people spend countless hours of their life working to provide for themselves and their loved ones. The irony of working all these hours to provide for your loved ones is that you will not see them nearly as much as desired because of work. In my opinion, the above passage is important to the story because Tom is now inside lying on the floor as a new man who knows what is important in life.

The novel Looking Backward, written by Edward Bellamy, is about a young man, Julian West, who gets put into a hypnotic sleep in the late nineteenth century but awakens in the twenty-first century. In 2000, the year that West woke up in, the society had significantly changed from 1857 and Bellamy addresses the changes throughout the novel. Bellamy essentially created a utopian society extremely different from the society that he was in. Woman had equal rights as men. Social class did not exist. Everybody, does not matter on your occupation, received the same payment that was on credit. Fighting was not seen or heard off. William G. Sumner, an American academic, and Andrew Carnegie, an American industrialist, would both have extremely negative views about a book whose society supports equal pay and does not have a social class. William G. Sumner and Andrew Carnegie would have both opposed Looking Backward because of its unfair economic and social system.

The Eloi were one of the 2 species that humans evolved to in Wells’ story. At first, they seem very content. They share everything with one another: food, shelter, and the land. There is no industry or pollution. "Communism,"(58) the Time Traveler says to himself at one point. This all seems marvelous, but the desire to learn and gain knowledge has also gone. “A queer thing I soon discovered about my little hosts, and that was their lack of interest.” (55) The Eloi, after so many years, have failed to continue to discover and create new things. They are simple and are not capable of thinking critically, or even having a sophisticated language. The Eloi are afraid of the darkness, and The Time Traveler later finds out why: the Murlocks.

Since the nineteenth and twentieth century, there has always been a division between the wealthy and unfortunate. During these times the higher class continued to prosper while the lower class remained at the bottom, the separation continues to grow. Three men vocalize their views on the social division, capitalism, and individualism. Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist, believed the rich should distributed their wealth to benefit society while they’re alive. Carnegie elaborates this idea in his article, The Gospel of Wealth, written in 1889. Russell Conwell, a philanthropist, expresses in his speech, Acres of Diamonds, men should utilize their surrounding opportunities to make themselves wealthy. Edward Bellamy, a socialist, wrote Look Backward about a wealthy young man, Julian West, who enters hypnotic sleep in 1887 and awakes 113 years later. Although, the men state similar matters their views contrast, Carnegie and Conwell would most likely be critical to Bellamy’s vision.

Edward Bellamy was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. At an early age, he was engrossed in the problem of human cruelty, so he decided to become a journalist. He worked for the New York Evening Post and the Springfield Union. Bellamy had a passion for writing fiction articles and novels. Looking Backward has besieged him to the world of literature. This novel’s main feature is the destructives that Bellamy perceived through the society of social and economic systems. Looking Backward nominates that an economy based on a publicly-owned capital would solve problems of social equality. The next few paragraphs will summarize Bellamy’s thoughts and opinions on social, economic and political changes.

Edward Bellamy's, "Looking Backward: From 2000 to 1887," challenges the problems of the Gilded Age and opens the readers to a new type of progressive, where he not only sheds light on the inequalities of capitalism but also provides a solution for it. While Bellamy's book does introduce his readers to many different themes, a consistent one is that of freedom. Bellamy's vision for the future promoted freedom in the ways of change, government and the relief of social pressures.

The Time Traveller encounters two races of regressed human beings the Eloi and the Morlocks. The Eloi are frail creatures, no taller than four feet. They pass their time frolicking in the fields. They do not seem to be interested in the continuous pursuit of intellectual advance or technological progress which would assuredly make their lives much easier. Unlike the Eloi, the Morlocks are subterranean creatures. They are carnivorous, cannot tolerate the daylight and they feed upon the helpless Eloi at night, whom they breed like cattle. These two races seem to be manifestations of human characteristics that would only be harmful. The Eloi represent those who live off of human emotion and activity, and are plagued by premature decrepitness and degeneration. They survive off the hard work of others. The Morlocks represent an industrialized society in a negative fashion. They are slovenly, unaesthetic and lack a sense of beauty needed to appreciate life. Wells’s believes that these traits would lead to a degeneration of society.

Time traveling, a concept known to modern man as inconceivable, but in The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, this fathom of human fantasy has come to life. Wells entangles a unique blend of contrasting characters, conflicts of capitalist verses laborer divisions, and foreshadowing of the destruction of humanity to seem together this novel of visionary proportions. "The Time Machine is a bleak and sober vision of man's place in the Universe."(McConnell Pg.1581)

Life can at times seem bad, even in the lives of some of the most prestigious, rich, popular people in the world. Bad hair, lack of sleep, abundance of homework, and an absence of money have the tendency to put a damper on some people's days, among other things. Too many times, though, in today's society things are taken for granted. Imagine not having a place to sleep, having no means of education, or having all hard-earned funds taken by the government, not even leaving enough to feed the family. This is how it was for Englanders in the 1800s. The condition of the working-class in 19thcentury England was, without a doubt, disgusting and miserable. The circumstances were spiraling out of control and the working class was

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.

But in mysterious state of despair the other group, the Morlocks, live in a huge underground world. Wells expressed the theory of evolution by making the Eloi, distant descendants of the wealthy but because they didn't use their brains or muscles, they were very weak and had lost most signs of human intelligence. However the Morlocks descended from the labourers and the working class. Both species had adapted to their environment. The Eloi were small and very weak, as they didn't work at all, they also had very short attention spans, as they didn't pay attention to things for very long.

great prosperity in Great Britain's literature. The Victorian Age produced a variety of changes. Political and social reform produced a variety of reading among all classes. The lower-class became more self-conscious, the middle class more powerful and the rich became more vulnerable. The novels of Charles Dickens, the poems of Alfred,

For many years, the well-known novelist, H.G. Wells has captivated the minds and imaginations of readers with his multiple best-selling books; The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The War of the Worlds. These selections however are not Wells’ most controversial novel. The Time Machine, written in 1895, is Wells’ most talked about work. Multiple different themes and various sides are seen to be taken within this novel, one of these main themes being the separation of classes. While the Morlock’s and the Eloi, in H.G. Wells’ novel; The Time Machine, play an extremely important role in distinguishing the future for this book, one has reason to believe that there is a broader underlying meaning for these two types of