The Satire of H.G Wells
Few advancements in human history have made more impact on our modern world than the industrial revolution. Coupled with this leap in industry, imperialism defined the economic political and social structure across the globe. Essentially the industrial revolution defined the means, while imperialism dictated who would have eventual control. H.G Wells explores both imperialism and the industrial revolution by taking them to extremes, and through his satire reflects the specific flaws of both processes as they changed the world around him.
H.G Wells himself was a left wing socialist. Socialism essentially commands an abolition of class structure and a "collective ownership of the means of production" (Wikipedia, Socialism). Wells interest in class structure, the role and consequences of it are reflected in The Time Machine which is a satire of the industrial revolution that was re-defining western social and economic structures at the time. By setting the novel far into the future, Wells is able to exaggerate and subvert the relationship and development between the working class maintaining the industrial revolution, and the upper, intellectual classes that are benefiting from it.
The Time Traveler, the main character of The Time Machine, travels far into the future and finds a peaceful and seemingly utopian race, the Eloi' being preyed upon by a savage race that essentially maintains the existence of the Eloi, the Morlocks'. Both the Eloi and Morlocks are representations of specific classes within social structure.
The Eloi represent the upper, intellectual class of the turn of the 19th century. The Time Traveler theorizes that they may have been the favored aristocracy at some point, with the Morlocks as their mechanical servants, the working class that supports them (Wells, 1895, p.70). The Eloi are further described by the Time Traveler as having decayed to a: "mere beautiful futility" (Wells, 1895, p.70).
Wells, by using this representation,
H.G Wells himself was a left wing socialist. Socialism essentially commands an abolition of class structure and a "collective ownership of the means of production" (Wikipedia, Socialism). Wells interest in class structure, the role and consequences of it are reflected in The Time Machine which is a satire of the industrial revolution that was re-defining western social and economic structures at the time. By setting the novel far into the future, Wells is able to exaggerate and subvert the relationship and development between the working class maintaining the industrial revolution, and the upper, intellectual classes that are benefiting from it.
The Time Traveler, the main character of The Time Machine, travels far into the future and finds a peaceful and seemingly utopian race, the Eloi' being preyed upon by a savage race that essentially maintains the existence of the Eloi, the Morlocks'. Both the Eloi and Morlocks are representations of specific classes within social structure.
The Eloi represent the upper, intellectual class of the turn of the 19th century. The Time Traveler theorizes that they may have been the favored aristocracy at some point, with the Morlocks as their mechanical servants, the working class that supports them (Wells, 1895, p.70). The Eloi are further described by the Time Traveler as having decayed to a: "mere beautiful futility" (Wells, 1895, p.70).
Wells, by using this representation,
Bibliography: Socialism. (2006, August 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:45, August 18, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialism&oldid=70336025. Wells H. G. 1895, The Time Machine, New York: Bantam Dell Wells H. G. 1898, The War of the Worlds, New York: Bantam Dell