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H.G. Wells is considered to be one of the most pioneering authors of recent times, having invented the alien invasion genre in The War of The Worlds, introduced progressive political views into his novels and becoming known as "The Father of Science Fiction", owing to his contributions to the field at the turn of the century. In The Time Machine, Wells created the idea of time travel in fiction, a hugely influential one that has inspired so many stories on the theme after it. In fact, the term "time machine" is one of Wells' own creation.
The story follows an unnamed protagonist who, unsurprisingly, makes a device capable of transporting him through time. (It is disputable, but some claim that Wells was even the first to suggest that time was a 4th dimension that could be travelled through.) The Time Traveller uses his device to send him nearly a million years into the future, where he finds a world inhabited by the Eloi; small, childish, innocent people living in something of a paradise. Their lives are all relaxation and hedonism.
The main character becomes disappointed with the Eloi, though, when he realises that they appear to have lost all of man's intellect; through talking to one of the Eloi, Weena, he learns that their language is simple, all literature has been lost, and they appear to lack basic emotions such as compassion for one another. He realises something more sinister is afoot upon discovering the Morlocks, a troglodyte race living underground who, it turns out, are keeping the Eloi alive just so they can eat them.
Part of The Time Machine's appeal lies, I think, in its believability. Perhaps not in its science or the events that come to pass, but in how the main character reacts to his situation. In Wells' story, the Time Traveller spends most of his time in the future thoroughly confused and, rather nicely, the loose ends do not get tied up at the end of the story.
The 1960 film adaptation of the novel made the story much more clichéd, with the Time Traveller heroically liberating the Eloi from their opression and making Weena much more of a love interest. The original book, however, gives a much more gritty account of the story with many questions left unanswered. It is never explained how mankind got to this stage or if this is the way it has got the world over. Wells gives us only a tiny peek at his vision of the future and the readers are left to guess the rest, much like the protagonist of his story.
For any fan of sci-fi, The Time Machine is well worth a read, if anything to see where it all began. At only 128 pages long, it is a pretty easy read but an enjoyable one nonetheless and, as is the case with most turn-of-the-century sci-fi, it is fascinating to see how much is owed by modern day fiction to originality of authors like H.G. Wells.
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