The Time Machine and the Modern World

Sabique Islam
Professor Douglas
Com 122
The Time Machine and Our World
By Sabique Ul Islam
The Time Machine, written by H.G. Wells, focuses on contemporary social questions. Through the progression of the story Wells delineates various interrelated social issues that existed in Victorian England. Wells reflects on the exploitation of the working class and the negative effect of modern technology on class struggle in a capitalist society. He also puts forward a rather contradictory opinion about how the advent of communism can render humans into being frail, weak and not so innovative like the Elois. In my opinion, Wells’ Marxist critique of capitalism can prove to be a plausible factor in the demise of our civilization and steer us towards the dystopian future that is depicted in the novel.

As paraphrased from Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century, “Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview”, developed by renowned German political economist and socialist revolutionary, Karl Henrich Marx. It mostly focuses on class struggle due to the “alienation and exploitation of the working class in a capitalistic society”. (Gregory, Stuart 62)

Class inequality, class struggle or exploitation of the working class has always been a motivating factor for every historical revolution. Karl Heinrich Marx, a German political economist and socialist revolutionary, in his publication “The Communist Manifesto”, describes the nature and history of the conflict between the Bourgeoisies and Proletarians due to class inequality and struggle. In the initial introductory line he writes, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" (01). Marx’s based his publication on the derogation and exploitation of the working class Proletarians by the ruling class, the Bourgeoisie, in a capitalist society. In the manifesto, he depicts how the Bourgeoisie rule over the Proletarians by the control of private property and class the Proletarians as the labor force with no such value as humans. The Proletarians are enforced to work with minimum wage and extended hours. Although the Proletarians are portrayed as the slaves of the Bourgeoisies, Marx represents the proletarians as a unique class. They have the miserable existence they share in common, which also aids in good communication and brotherhood among them. After being subjected to such alienation and discrimination: the Proletarians revolt, overthrow the Bourgeoisies and assume control over all private property. The distinct characteristic of this revolution is that in previous revolutions, which were caused by social issues, property was relocated in favor of the new ruling class. However, the Proletarians had no way of differentiating class among themselves since they all belonged to the same class, and hence no way of relocating property. Therefore, when the Proletarians assume control, they destroy all ownership of property and in the process abolish the class system, thus bringing about the communist society that is based on common ownership. “The Communist Manifesto” points this out as the “march of history” (42, Sec 1, Part 1).

The analytical approach of Marx’s manifesto about class struggle and exploitation in capitalist society is echoed throughout The Time Machine. The Morlocks are the working class in this tale of two humanoid species. And Wells indicates that after being exploited by the Elois, the Morlocks, like the Proletarians, start the “march of history” and relieve the Elois, of their private ownership (Marx 42). But since the Morlocks were so derogatively exploited and alienated from normal society, they evolved into different beings that can’t survive in bright light conditions. The Morlocks had to move underground. Therefore, with no existing class system and abolition of capitalistic society, both the races began living a communal lifestyle. I agree with Wells’ theory about a similar sort of event taking place in the future that would divide humans in a more distinctive and irreversible way and bring about the demise of civilization.

Wells very astutely manages to tell us how the use of modern technology can cause class struggle and also at the same time hinder human capabilities. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx stresses on the negative effect of introducing modern technology into a capitalist society. He writes that the Proletarians can survive as long as they are employed. They are treated as commodities, whose price fluctuates with the supply and demand of the market. With the invention of machines and introduction of division of labor, the proletarians are rendered less efficient. The Bourgeoisies opts for more specialized machines which produce higher output than manual labor. The Proletarians are made redundant and are without any money or food. This causes the Proletarians to plummet further down the class system which adds to their brewing turmoil. This later incites their revolt or as quoted by Marx himself, “March of history” against the ruling Bourgeoisies. (Sec. 1, Part 2) Wells shows, the possibility of an event like this, in his book by the time traveler’s deduction of the Elois, being the ruling class, pushing the Morlocks further down the class system due to the introduction of technology and their over dependence on it.

In the beginning of the novel, The Time Machine, the time traveler thinks that the Elois are frail and their communal lifestyle is what is keeping the world so trouble free. To him it seemed desirable, as it is something every society thrives for. But at the same time it seemed strange. The advent of communism among the Elois and Morlocks has made their life easier. Since property has common ownership and an easy life has made them strive less for innovation and change. This is evident in most of the communist countries today. As compared to their capitalist counterparts, most of the communist countries are still hindering behind in terms of social, cultural and technological advancements. This actually puts forward the question, “Which socio-political order is more useful? Capitalism or communism?” From what I have derived from Wells novel is that both socio-political orders have their own pros and cons. But history has shown that every time any of these orders have pushed a class of people to their extreme, the pendulum swings back and balance is restored to the system by any of the opposing classes. For Example: The French Revolution, The Slave revolt of Spartacus, Hungary 's Revolt against Communism in 1956. Wells portrays this restoration of balance but he also shows how due to that, the pendulum swung in a completely opposite direction for the Elois and Morlocks and thus causing a demise of the modern human civilization. In my opinion, from this repetition of restoration of balance, there will come a point in time when a change would be so devastating that it would totally alter the world and its socio-political order.

In a nutshell, I would say that the adventure story of Wells’ novel includes many archetypal elements. The tale of 802,701 is a political commentary of late Victorian England. He recommends that current society must change its ways if it doesn’t want to end up like the Elois, terrified of an underground race of Morlocks. In the book, Wells lampoons the decadence of Elois caused by communism and provides a Marxist critique of capitalism that incited the dawn of the Morlocks. I concur with Wells views, in The Time Machine, are relevant to our world and can bring about the breakdown of the human culture.

Works Cited: Wells, H.G. The Time Machine. Penguin Books, 1895. Print. Gregory, Paul R., and Robert C. Stuart. Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century. 7. South Western, Cengage Learning, 62. Print. Marx, Karl, and Engels, Friedrich. "The Communist Manifesto." Section 1, Bourgeois and Proletarians (Part 1 & 2), 42. February 21 (1848). Web.

Cited: Wells, H.G. The Time Machine. Penguin Books, 1895. Print. Gregory, Paul R., and Robert C. Stuart. Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century. 7. South Western, Cengage Learning, 62. Print. Marx, Karl, and Engels, Friedrich. "The Communist Manifesto." Section 1, Bourgeois and Proletarians (Part 1 & 2), 42. February 21 (1848). Web.