In H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, the unnamed narrator, commonly referred to as the Time Traveler, creates a device capable of time travel and proceeds to meet two humanoid species of a very distant future. The Time Traveler's adventure is commonly accepted by readers as that of a Victorian-era man living thousands of millennia through the boundless exploration of time. This initial interpretation fails to incorporate Wells' underlying themes of the evolution of humanity, class division, and the effects of capitalism on current Time Traveler culture. If this key aspect of the Time Traveler's tale goes unnoticed, readers will not be equipped to fully understand Wells's ultimate analogy, the struggle between capitalist and worker. The relationship between Eloi and Morlocks, the two divergent species of the author's future, is a representation of the characteristics and future projections of the 19th century Victorian era, presented through an early interpretation of science fiction. In this essay I will analyze the analogy between the Eloi and the Morlocks, showing Wells' latent argument about what will happen to humanity if capitalism persists in taking advantage of workers for the benefit and well-being of the privileged. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay As the time traveler observes the relationship between the Eloi and the Morlocks and studies the behavior and physical traits of the two species, he develops several theories as to why humanity transformed into a completely different race from each other on the other. He discovers that humanity has evolved into two different species due to the “gradual widening of the current merely temporary and social difference between the capitalist and the worker” (40). The Time Traveler is not simply stating that humanity has evolved and changed from how he knew it, but has changed due to growing social inequalities between the upper and lower classes during the Victorian era. This theme is crucial to understanding the purpose of the book, which revolves around this general idea of class suppression and social conflict. To understand this representative class struggle between Eloi and Morlocks, it is necessary to understand the beginnings of their respective races. The Eloi are ultimately descendants of the elite because they inhabit and control “considerable portions of the earth's surface” (40). The Morlocks, or the underclass, “lost their birthright in the sky” (40) and had to settle underground, while maintaining the production of goods. Therefore, according to the Time Traveler's social Darwinist perspective, humanity has evolved into separate branches of contrasting species, which are also a physical embodiment of the differences between upper classes and lower classes, due to their gradual change of position, but fundamentally because of their class contrasts. The fact that the Eloi do not produce or work for their own goods furthers the idea that they are elitist and comparable to the upper class of 1890s England. The Eloi “displayed no machinery, nor appliances of any kind, yet were clothed in cloth pleasant” (34). The only logical reason for the Eloi to purchase their goods would be the Morlocks, with their use of "large industrial machines" (44). Therefore, the Morlocks are socially dominated by the elitist Eloi. Most critics agree that the Morlocks are socially subordinate to the Eloi because they have the Morlocks build their goods. The bourgeoisie, or those who have a higher social status, control the areas of the territory, thus maintaining their power. This.
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