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The Time Machine by H.G. Wells Essays

Decent Essays

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

In this essay I am going to discuss Wells' use of contrast in the Time Machine. This will include contrast from the Victorian era to the future era, but also contrast in other sections. During a lot of the book contrast is based on revealing intelligence and general lack of it. It is also shown as what the time traveller thinks will happen and what actually does happen. A lot of these contrasts are quite regularly compared to the contrast of dark and light.

From the first page of the book we can even get a hint that the time traveller is quite arrogant, he thinks his intelligence is better than the others in his presence, "Expounding a recondite matter to us." …show more content…

To relish beliefs of trickery he uses the psychologists finger to press the button. As the machine went into the future or past it blew a candle out. This is another reference to fire. There is also imagery involved of light and darkness as well as there been foreshadowing irony. This chapter also contains contrast of knowledge and ignorance. Knowledge of the time traveller understanding what is going on and ignorance of the people watching refusing to believe.

"lights a spill at the fire." This is how Wells' has shown that the audience believe what he is saying. When he takes the audience to look at the real version of the time machine he takes a "lamp" with him, this once again shows a positive status of intelligence in that the time traveller knows what he is talking about, although on the way down the dark corridor it does "flicker" which shows some doubtfulness.

We see some foreshadowing irony almost straight away in chapter three. As soon as the time traveller returns the first thing he asks is for them "to save a bit of mutton. He's starving for some meat." As we find out this is quite ironic as when he travels into the future he does not eat any meat. This is because no one but eloi and morlock roam the Earth and the eloi only eat fruit. The morlocks eat eloi. This is also contrast as the time traveller does not agree with how the morlock's "harvest" the eloi and

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