The Time Machine - 1895 by Herbert George Wells

PRESENTATION

Instead of writing a book on social policy where, through a careful analysis of the defects of the system in which the different human social classes function together (one too favored and the other too exploited), the author could have described the future of humanity , H. G. Wells prefers to use a more common citizen-friendly reasoning and create a science fiction narrative.

In this narrative the reader will not have to deal with the understanding of political science concepts with the vocabulary and rhetorical and dialectical formalism typical of political environments. Ninth! Not at all.

The reader will have direct experience of the future social results of our civilization thanks to the use of a 'time machine' which will take him, together with the protagonist, to visit the final outcome of humanity and life on this dear planet of ours.

The powerful instrument whose functioning we will see in this novel, let it be clear, is not the time machine, but rather Charles Darwin's Theory of the Origin of Species, which the author of the novel knew very well as he was a teacher of natural Science.

This novel is, in my opinion, Wells' masterpiece, a prophetic work that powerfully evokes a world destiny that is anything but reassuring.

ANALYSIS

The action narrated during the novel unites two important science fiction topics, which are quite different from each other, which, taken individually, can very well constitute a complete theme for a science fiction story.

These two topics are the technology of the future, of which the time machine is a very suggestive symbol, and the utopia of a civilization of the future, which in this novel is represented by an abandoned but still functioning city, which is located near of the place where the main narrative action takes place, i.e. the natural park where the descendants of humanity live: the Eloi and the Morlocks.

With respect to the central topic of the novel, that of political criticism of human society, the two topics that constitute the narrative action perform an important function for the purposes of expounding the author's thesis.

While the time machine allows the narrator to move along the timeline and describe the positive and negative properties of each historical era of the future, both from a social and environmental point of view, the abandoned city allows the narrator to make available to the reader and to the protagonist all that historical information that explains the events of humanity from the day in which the time travel of this story began, up to that distant future where the protagonist arrived with his machinery.

I must warn the reader of this post that in Wells' novel the visit to the New London municipal library takes place AFTER the protagonist's arrival in the park where the Eloi people live. Instead, in the 2002 film 'The Time Machine', the visit to the library takes place BEFORE, in a previous era, when the utopian city and the library were still inhabited.

The reason for this modification of Wells' novel by the director of the film is known only to the director, but I would like to underline the fact that the writer's choice to show the abandoned city and library, at a time when humanity has lost all interest in civil life and culture, it is fully consistent with his thesis of political criticism of human society.

A narration of events different from how the writer organized it would cause such situations to lose meaning in the overall picture of the story.

Completeness of information

Before analyzing this parameter, it is necessary to clarify that the organization of the narrative voices of this novel is complex.

Although the narrative frame of the novel has a friend of the time traveler as narrator, the narrative action featuring the time traveler is presented by the time traveler himself.

The presence, therefore, of two narrative voices in this book, although it may give rise to confusion, serves to produce two different modes of narrative actions.

The narration given by the time traveler's friend expresses disbelief towards the story and supports the analytical thoughts the reader might have when hearing this adventure.

The time traveler's narrative expresses the intelligence of the human being who experiences the adventure of time travel firsthand and, therefore, must interpret the facts to make the right decision.

In both cases, these narrators do not have a declared identity for the reason that they must be 'impersonal'.

Their impersonality allows the reader to identify with each of the two types of narrators deeply, without being distracted by the attributions of identity they have.

In fact, it seems clear that the other friends of the time traveler to whom he tells his adventures have a declared identity. From their identities, and their professions, we learn that the entire group of people are residents of London.

Much more detailed is the information regarding the descendants of humanity.

The story informs us about the names of the two species of humans, how they live, their physical attributions and even what thoughts they seem to have at certain moments in history.

The narrative also goes so far as to tell us who their distant ancestors were: the Eloi are the descendants of the rich ruling class and the Morlocks are the descendants of the subordinate working class.

The completeness of information achieved to describe the future of humanity is so detailed that it can be compared to that found in scientific theories of anthropology. But I will talk about this in the next analysis parameter.

Scientific verisimilitude

The scientific principles on which this novel is based are two: time travel and the evolution of the human species in the distant future.

Both of these principles are sufficiently described in the story.

The theory of time travel is explained in the first chapter, as the reader begins reading the first page. This choice is excellent, as it immediately gives an idea of the scientifically ambitious nature of the story.

Starting the novel with a lesson on 'geometries of the fourth dimension', that is, time, the reader immediately understands two things: the first is that the narrative calls upon all the intelligence he has at his disposal, since it is an extremely mental abstraction, logical reasoning with an academic flavor, the second thing is that with a premise of that kind you can expect to read about truly impressive events that concern the destiny of the world and of humanity, something that will be fully confirmed in the course of reading.

Stylistically speaking, therefore, a more illuminating and emphatic beginning of the novel could not have been chosen, which is accentuated by the mysterious demonstrative experiment that the time traveler will show to his friends, among whom the first narrator is also present.

The writer should not be reproached for not having given a technical explanation of the technological principle that makes the time machine work. Wells is more interested in proving scientific theories, rather than playing with fantastic symbols of technological modernity.

The second scientific principle of the novel is the theory of human evolution over a period of eight hundred thousand years.

Eight hundred thousand years is a long time and is perfectly consistent with Darwinian evolutionary theories on the origin of modern man.

Eight hundred thousand years ago Homo Erectus still lived on Earth and his anatomical and cultural differences with us, today's men, are many.

Therefore, putting such a long time between the man of today and the man of the future, whose anatomical, intellectual and cultural attributions are so evident and profound is, in my opinion, an exact choice from the scientific point of view, which demonstrates Wells' preparation on the topics of Darwinian evolutionism.

The explanation that the writer gives to the evolutionary changes that human beings of the two opposing social classes have undergone over the millennia deserves praise; this explanation demonstrates that he understood very well the way in which the environment, behavior, food and other evolutionary factors act in a species to produce one quality rather than another, thus determining an evolutionary change.

The feeling that arises in the reader when reading this evolutionary transformation of masters and servants is one of commiseration.

There is so much sadness in seeing how the prestigious pride of the masters' superiority has been lost over time, resulting in a lineage of naive and useless people who are 'bred' solely to become the food of the Morlocks.

There is so much sadness in seeing how the trade union demands of the working class (always considered the emblem of the social redemption of the serfs who deserve more respect and social esteem), have been lost over time until arriving at a lineage of astute and insensitive, well-organized individuals who exploit their masters' great-grandchildren to... eat them.

Creativity in Fantasy

Analyzing this novel with the parameter of creativity in the fantastic component, one cannot fail to recognize that it is H. G. Wells' masterpiece.

The list of narrative inventions would be long, with countless descriptive details capable of evoking both wonderful suggestions and chilling and shocking impressions.

Oh yes, there is no doubt, from an artistic point of view, this novel demonstrates a suggestive power that is expressed with very original aesthetic figures, which not even the films that took it as inspiration have managed to match.

The meaning of the ending

I am convinced that the entire novel is constructed to keep itself in balance with its final epilogue.

Without the epilogue, this story would only express so much pessimism towards humanity.

It is the first narrator who is entrusted with the task of pronouncing the thought that acts as the moral conclusion of the story; this is why the first narrator is so important in the organization of the novel, since he tells us about the time traveler in the third person, both at the opening of the novel and at its closing.

So, what does the first narrator tell us at the end of the novel?

He confides to us this thought of his: that if after eight hundred thousand years in the hearts of human beings, even though they had been relegated to a lower evolutionary stage, like so many idiots without self-awareness, there was still the feeling of devotion and gratitude, then, perhaps, this is precisely the primordial and original quality that resides in each of us, and which makes us aware of good and evil.

This thought is uttered while looking at the flowers that Weena, the Eloi girl from the future, had put in the pocket of the time traveler's jacket to thank him for having been saved only by him, in the face of the indifference of her fellow citizens.

The comfort and hope given to us by this morality may seem small in the face of the dramatic future that awaits humanity. Maybe that's exactly how it is.

In fact, the comfort of this morality appears fragile and delicate to us just like Weena's flowers.

The War of the Worlds - 1897 by Herbert George Wells

PRESENTATION

The purpose of this novel is to present a thesis of moral philosophy.

Therefore, if you were looking for a story that told about war strategies on the battlefield, combat tactics, description of the units in action, description of the personality of the commanders or even the personal story of heroic soldiers who face the cruel invaders with gritted teeth, ... Well, this isn't the book for you.

It is difficult to say whether the moral purpose of this narrative of events is to condemn the callous violence of the invading Martians or, rather, to recognize that the law of the strongest does not guide the actions of peoples only on planet Earth, but also on other civilized planets much more than ours.

Perhaps, the purpose of the novel is precisely to admit that we cannot call ourselves strangers to the logic of dominance and annihilation demonstrated by our alien enemies.

The novel implements a sort of cosmic nemesis which has the aim of recalling our conscience of Western civilization and making us critically rethink our Eurocentric morality, by virtue of which we feel entitled to exempt ourselves from any judgment made on us by others peoples of the Earth.

Therefore, the purpose of this book is above all aimed at the European reader, it is an invitation to reflect on the meaning of one's identity as a highly advanced people and on the meaning of the policies of Western civilization in the world. In this sense, this narrative is full of reflections; they are those made by the protagonist, a writer from England at the end of the 19th century, who will witness dramatic events of violence and destruction.

ANALYSIS

The intolerable violence of weapons and war techniques are highlighted when narrated by those who are not used to this kind of thing. Indeed, if it is a person of noble soul such as a writer, they are described and interpreted at a more intimate level of consciousness.

This is why this novel which has war as its subject is not, as we would have expected, a typical war novel.

The story told in the novel is that of a man who makes a journey to reunite with his wife; a journey undertaken in circumstances of extreme emergency by all the civil services that constitute an advanced nation like England at the end of the 19th century.

Paralysis of public transport, paralysis of commercial services, energy, water etc., the destructive activity of the Martians causes all these things to stop and although there are attempts to employ them to save the population or to benefit military defense activities, the very simple goal of returning home from a town near London now seems like a hopeless undertaking.

This is the most suitable narrative scenario to show how devastating the action of a military invasion can be in the eyes of a citizen accustomed to thinking about the benefits of his daily existence in view of a future of peace and prosperity.

For this reason, although the title of the novel mentions a war theme, the war we are talking about is described in an external way, not by those who commit it, but by those who are witnesses and victims of it.

However, the narrative is always very exhaustive with information and descriptions which never make one feel the lack of a point of view within the terrestrial military organization taking part in the conflict.

Completeness of information

In this novel the completeness of information is always fully guaranteed, for everything concerning the protagonist, the characters he meets during his journey and, above all, in the narrative which has the Martians as its object.

Especially for the science fiction part, we learn who the author of the invasion is (the Martians), and what they intend to do on our planet (colonization), thus, explaining not only the actions they carry out but also their ultimate goal, we have the complete picture of what is happening.

In fact, towards the end an activity of insertion of a Martian botanical species is described with the aim of transforming the Earth into a habitable colony for Martians. This information is not so obvious, as there are many stories of this kind where the invasion, the war, are described, but not the objective that the invaders have.

The numerous references to the colonial activities of the British Empire also indicate well the historical moment in which the narrated events occur.

Scientific verisimilitude

It is perhaps thanks to the abundance of technical and scientific descriptions that scientific verisimilitude becomes the strong point of this novel.

The appearance of the Martians, their behavior, their technology, are all things that acquire a sense of credibility and realism thanks to technical, scientific, social, moral and biological reasoning.

It is no coincidence that director Orson Welles used part of this novel to carry out his famous radio prank, thereby causing panic among radio listeners.

However, H. G. Wells creates the masterpiece of scientific verisimilitude when he explains that terrestrial bacteria and viruses, harmless to us, proved lethal to aliens due to the lack of adequate immune defenses in their bodies.

What better solution, elegant and correct from a scientific point of view, could a narrator find?

This narrative invention will suggest similar solutions for their stories to many writers of the future, up to and including the 'spores' inhaled by Earthlings on the alien planet in the 2017 film 'Alien Covenant'.

Creativity in Fantasy

In this respect, the novel does not show a great imagination of events and descriptions.

The description of the Martians is appreciable, to which the author intentionally attributes strange and inadequate features to the gravitational and atmospheric conditions of our planet, with the sole aim of making them appear alien even in their physical constitution to the detriment, however, of the scientific credibility of individuals capable of building machinery.

The Martians, therefore, have the appearance of oblong sacks with eyes, which move with a certain number of tentacles.

Interesting is the invention of the shape of the Martian war machines: the famous tripods.

These machines, although they have a cockpit that resembles the body of the Martians, are equipped with three very long legs which, as the protagonist explains, present the victims of the invaders with an image of their oppressors that does not correspond to reality.

The more fear machines instill in Earthlings, the more ridiculous and clumsy real Martians appear.

As regards the modest imagination that the author has demonstrated in the narrated facts and in the symbolic meanings that are part of them, it is not surprising that in this novel the author has made this choice.

Wells was interested in using this story as a metaphor for the colonial policies of European nations and therefore had an interest in making the fictional events of the narrative reflect those real, well-known and well-known events of human history.

The ending and its moral

Therefore, for the purposes of the ability to impose oneself to the detriment of others, the magnitude of the means employed and the violence used have little importance when the universal laws of nature allow invisible life forms to break down your defenses, without you first realizing it that it's all over.

In the novel's finale, universal justice triumphs not in the interests of the human peoples of planet Earth, but as a warning not to follow the same path of abuse cruelly traced by the Martians.

The exact metaphor of this moral ending is constituted by the protagonist who, finally, can embrace his wife again after having witnessed the collapse of 'Eurocentric pride' of which, now, only the rubble can be seen and rethink his own identity and his own future, clutching what is most precious in life: love.