Summary of Time Machine
The Time Machine (by H.G Wells)
Summary
The narrator recounts the explanation of two difficult ideas by a man he refers to as the Time Traveller to an after-dinner group. The group includes a Psychologist, a Medical Man, a Provincial Mayor, and a few other men. The Time Traveller shows them a smaller prototype of the time machine, and when he pulls a lever, it disappears--into the future, he claims. At the next week's dinner, the Time Traveller comes in midway through the meal, haggard and limping. He tells them of his eight days of time travel. He uses the Time Machine that morning and speeds forward through time.
The Time Machine lands in a garden and the Time Traveller sees a statue of a White Sphinx and he notices robed figures in a nearby house who are watching him. One approaches him and speaks in a "strange tongue". When the creatures feel the Time Machine, the Time Traveller adjusts the levers to render it inoperable. The Time Traveller is stunned to think these creatures from 802,701 AD could be fools. The creatures bring him to a huge nearby building, where they invite him to devour exotic fruit with them. At first, he explains, he was confused by the strange fruits and flowers he saw, but he later came to understand their significance.
The Time Traveller tries to learn the creatures' language, but they soon lose interest in teaching him. He marvels at their laziness and lack of curiosity. He goes outside and is confused by the repositioning of the world--the Thames River has shifted more than a mile. As he explores and sees only huge buildings, he arrives at a conclusion: "'Communism.'" However, he explains he was later to find out that his initial assumptions were incorrect. He believes he has happened upon the end of humanity. He also believes their population checks have possibly been too effective, accounting for the abandoned ruins. However, he admits, his explanation turned out to be wrong. The full moon comes out, the creatures go into
Summary
The narrator recounts the explanation of two difficult ideas by a man he refers to as the Time Traveller to an after-dinner group. The group includes a Psychologist, a Medical Man, a Provincial Mayor, and a few other men. The Time Traveller shows them a smaller prototype of the time machine, and when he pulls a lever, it disappears--into the future, he claims. At the next week's dinner, the Time Traveller comes in midway through the meal, haggard and limping. He tells them of his eight days of time travel. He uses the Time Machine that morning and speeds forward through time.
The Time Machine lands in a garden and the Time Traveller sees a statue of a White Sphinx and he notices robed figures in a nearby house who are watching him. One approaches him and speaks in a "strange tongue". When the creatures feel the Time Machine, the Time Traveller adjusts the levers to render it inoperable. The Time Traveller is stunned to think these creatures from 802,701 AD could be fools. The creatures bring him to a huge nearby building, where they invite him to devour exotic fruit with them. At first, he explains, he was confused by the strange fruits and flowers he saw, but he later came to understand their significance.
The Time Traveller tries to learn the creatures' language, but they soon lose interest in teaching him. He marvels at their laziness and lack of curiosity. He goes outside and is confused by the repositioning of the world--the Thames River has shifted more than a mile. As he explores and sees only huge buildings, he arrives at a conclusion: "'Communism.'" However, he explains he was later to find out that his initial assumptions were incorrect. He believes he has happened upon the end of humanity. He also believes their population checks have possibly been too effective, accounting for the abandoned ruins. However, he admits, his explanation turned out to be wrong. The full moon comes out, the creatures go into