The Time Machine Readers Response
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells was a very thought provoking novel with an intriguing flow of events in the form of a story. Wells’s original intent for the book was to prove a dull point and put it in an interesting form, but it turned into something much more. I thought it was a great story packed with interesting characters and an entertaining plot Wells does a good job on clarifying the meaning of events or people just as your curiosity peaks. He really shows what is symbolic in the story by emphasizing the object or person and making the otherwise insignificant subject a meaningful part of the story which can help you analyze the true symbolic value of the subject. An example would be the White Sphinx; it is a meaningless statue but Wells brings it into the story to show that there is meaning. The Sphinx represents the barrier in between time, an obstacle he must destroy to go back to where he belongs. The Time Traveler went through many stages of emotional troubles throughout the novel. At the beginning he is a very calm and understanding man, but when his gateway back home is at risk, the thought of never being able to go back to his current time turns him into a very paranoid and hostile person. As he starts to understand the ways of the Eloi, he becomes more comfortable and relaxed in his new environment. Weena also helped to calm down the Time Traveler by giving him a sense of peace and serenity; she acted as his child or as a loyal and innocent pet. The Time Travelers attitude and actions through the story show how he emotionally progresses in the story and how he develops from being inquisitive, to hostile, to valiant. The Time Machine is profuse with many different themes. One of the main themes in the story is fear, and the instinct of it. Weena and the rest of the Eloi have an instinctual fear of the darkness, for what is inside of it, the Morlocks. And the Morlocks have an instinctual fear of the light, for they go blind just with the sight