Theme Of Intelligence In H. G. Wells Time Traveler
In their quest to produce optimal comfort for themselves, humans harness their intelligence, the greatest instrument for dominating nature. After escaping the barrages of Morlocks, the H.G. Wells' Time Traveller expounds his theory on how the human race has reached the state that he is witnessing it in and in doing so implies that to foster prosperity, humans implant stability and complacency in the world, and that therefore vapid satisfaction is the essential ingredient of the ideal world in which man has subjugated nature. Performing a "suicide," the "dream of human intellect," which is to propagate "comfort and ease," gives rise to the society that precedes that of the Eloi and Morlocks—a society that truly consists of people specialized
…show more content…
to their economic roles. A "perfect world"—i.e., the world that thoughtful humans hanker after—thus emerges. All classes are "assured" that they will retain their roles, having no hopes or dreams, existing with no disgruntlements about the status quo. All "social question[s]" have found demise at the hands of the charitable problem-solvers of humanity. Coveted "security and permanency" thus characterize life. This stable status quo does not present anyone with a need to adapt to novel circumstances, and because "[t]here is no intelligence where there is no change," a devolution of the human mind transpires. Without any desire to escape the social stratum to which they are born, then, the Eloi never develop intelligence. Thus, in a "perfect world," there is no original thought; there is a "great quiet," where thoughtful discourse ceases, producing nothing to clutter the ear. The Time Traveller then insinuates the potential energy that intelligence possesses as an incendiary device: "Only those animals partake of intelligence that have to meet a huge variety of needs and dangers." "[I]ntelligence" engenders "a huge variety of needs and dangers"; it does this by defiling the "harmony" that "perfect mechanism[s]," which are never "appeal[ed]" to for intelligence, have with their habitats. The intelligence that the "Morlocks retained perforce," for example, is what enables them to cull the flock of Eloi for their nourishment and to swindle the Time Traveller's machine and disassemble it. In Great Expectations, the restiveness brought about by mental agony plays a similar role: Pip exposes himself to an assortment of new challenges upon repudiating his natural state, while the unambitious Joe enjoys consistent happiness in his forge. Pip illustrates the dangers of intelligence in his journey to becoming a gentleman.
Pip's intellect tarnishes his view of the life he inherits. After meeting Estella, a beautiful woman of the upper classes, Pip's mental tumult effervesces as it plots to alter his role in society and thereby attain her affection: "Estella was so inseparable from all my restlessness and disquiet of mind" (Dickens 300). The "disquiet" that has captured Pip contrasts with the "great quiet" that permeates the steady society of the future; Pip's mental state, which is entirely opposite to that of the Eloi, should effect an experience just as opposite. When eventually Pip gains the status that he desires, he enters the society of the rich, and is "always more or less miserable" (Dickens 302)—the Eloi, on the other hand, have a "graceful gentleness, a certain childlike ease" (Wells 23). Unlike the Eloi, Pip, driven by aspirations, routinely exits his natural role. In his murderous encounter with Orlick, mental ebullitions continue to upset Pip's otherwise relatively undisturbed emotions: "The death close before me was terrible, but far more terrible than death was the dread of being misremembered after death. And so quick were my thoughts, that I saw myself despised by unborn generations" (Dickens 447). "[T]houghts" thus inundate Pip with a concern for how others view him that further inhibits him from relaxing and demands from Pip the impossibility of escaping Orlick when Pip could placidly accept his doom and raise his comfort level (at least marginally). Relief does finally come to him, however, when, recognizing how brooding ambition has affected him, he refrains from trying to preserve his wealth, doing nothing to reverse the impending fate: "I finally resolved...and ever afterwards abided by the resolution...that my heart should never be sickened with the hopeless task of attempting to establish [a claim on the fortune]" (Dickens 469). A confined path towards a goal
"sicken[s]" the "heart" whilst the driven mind pursues a hazy talisman, so Pip defenestrates a worldly desire. Ensconced in his inherited role, Pip's brother-in-law, Joe, enjoys a simple life of stagnant expectations, requiring no lessons to discover the benefits of appreciating his way of life. Joe is conscious of the fruitlessness of exiting his niche and is happy as a result. When Joe visits Pip, to excuse his awkward behavior he reveals how in preparing himself for the visit, he has tarnished himself: "I'm wrong in these clothes. I'm wrong out of the forge, the kitchen, or off th' meshes. You won't find half so much fault in me if you think of me in my forge dress, with my hammer in my hand, or even my pipe" (Dickens 254). Professing Joe's position in society, "clothes" provide Joe with an expedient way of masquerading as someone of the status of Pip, but because they do nothing to modify the person who Joe is, Joe's way of communicating remains inappropriate when employed on members of the upper class. Because Joe recognizes this, he argues that his "forge dress" would induce less attention to his "fault." The knowledge that his current role allows him to perform at his best is what likens him to the members of the society that the Time Traveller stumbles upon, and it distinguishes him from Pip. No mental onslaughts prod him to change his condition. Most poignantly demonstrating the positive effect of Joe's contentedness is how his tranquil lifestyle grants him victory in love. During Pip's period of prodigality, Joe finds love in Biddy, whom Pip had hoped to woo. Thus, Joe's lack of ambition permits him to pursue objects that Pip's inconstancy diverts his attention from. The unexpected love between Weena and the Time Traveller results from a similar condition of mind, where Weena is unrestricted by any gratuitous duties. Impulses arising from an active, intelligent mind would disrupt the endless digression of the free, happy individual that is Weena. The ramifications of a vigorous mind thus apply in both the Victorian Era and the distant future.
to their economic roles. A "perfect world"—i.e., the world that thoughtful humans hanker after—thus emerges. All classes are "assured" that they will retain their roles, having no hopes or dreams, existing with no disgruntlements about the status quo. All "social question[s]" have found demise at the hands of the charitable problem-solvers of humanity. Coveted "security and permanency" thus characterize life. This stable status quo does not present anyone with a need to adapt to novel circumstances, and because "[t]here is no intelligence where there is no change," a devolution of the human mind transpires. Without any desire to escape the social stratum to which they are born, then, the Eloi never develop intelligence. Thus, in a "perfect world," there is no original thought; there is a "great quiet," where thoughtful discourse ceases, producing nothing to clutter the ear. The Time Traveller then insinuates the potential energy that intelligence possesses as an incendiary device: "Only those animals partake of intelligence that have to meet a huge variety of needs and dangers." "[I]ntelligence" engenders "a huge variety of needs and dangers"; it does this by defiling the "harmony" that "perfect mechanism[s]," which are never "appeal[ed]" to for intelligence, have with their habitats. The intelligence that the "Morlocks retained perforce," for example, is what enables them to cull the flock of Eloi for their nourishment and to swindle the Time Traveller's machine and disassemble it. In Great Expectations, the restiveness brought about by mental agony plays a similar role: Pip exposes himself to an assortment of new challenges upon repudiating his natural state, while the unambitious Joe enjoys consistent happiness in his forge. Pip illustrates the dangers of intelligence in his journey to becoming a gentleman.
Pip's intellect tarnishes his view of the life he inherits. After meeting Estella, a beautiful woman of the upper classes, Pip's mental tumult effervesces as it plots to alter his role in society and thereby attain her affection: "Estella was so inseparable from all my restlessness and disquiet of mind" (Dickens 300). The "disquiet" that has captured Pip contrasts with the "great quiet" that permeates the steady society of the future; Pip's mental state, which is entirely opposite to that of the Eloi, should effect an experience just as opposite. When eventually Pip gains the status that he desires, he enters the society of the rich, and is "always more or less miserable" (Dickens 302)—the Eloi, on the other hand, have a "graceful gentleness, a certain childlike ease" (Wells 23). Unlike the Eloi, Pip, driven by aspirations, routinely exits his natural role. In his murderous encounter with Orlick, mental ebullitions continue to upset Pip's otherwise relatively undisturbed emotions: "The death close before me was terrible, but far more terrible than death was the dread of being misremembered after death. And so quick were my thoughts, that I saw myself despised by unborn generations" (Dickens 447). "[T]houghts" thus inundate Pip with a concern for how others view him that further inhibits him from relaxing and demands from Pip the impossibility of escaping Orlick when Pip could placidly accept his doom and raise his comfort level (at least marginally). Relief does finally come to him, however, when, recognizing how brooding ambition has affected him, he refrains from trying to preserve his wealth, doing nothing to reverse the impending fate: "I finally resolved...and ever afterwards abided by the resolution...that my heart should never be sickened with the hopeless task of attempting to establish [a claim on the fortune]" (Dickens 469). A confined path towards a goal
"sicken[s]" the "heart" whilst the driven mind pursues a hazy talisman, so Pip defenestrates a worldly desire. Ensconced in his inherited role, Pip's brother-in-law, Joe, enjoys a simple life of stagnant expectations, requiring no lessons to discover the benefits of appreciating his way of life. Joe is conscious of the fruitlessness of exiting his niche and is happy as a result. When Joe visits Pip, to excuse his awkward behavior he reveals how in preparing himself for the visit, he has tarnished himself: "I'm wrong in these clothes. I'm wrong out of the forge, the kitchen, or off th' meshes. You won't find half so much fault in me if you think of me in my forge dress, with my hammer in my hand, or even my pipe" (Dickens 254). Professing Joe's position in society, "clothes" provide Joe with an expedient way of masquerading as someone of the status of Pip, but because they do nothing to modify the person who Joe is, Joe's way of communicating remains inappropriate when employed on members of the upper class. Because Joe recognizes this, he argues that his "forge dress" would induce less attention to his "fault." The knowledge that his current role allows him to perform at his best is what likens him to the members of the society that the Time Traveller stumbles upon, and it distinguishes him from Pip. No mental onslaughts prod him to change his condition. Most poignantly demonstrating the positive effect of Joe's contentedness is how his tranquil lifestyle grants him victory in love. During Pip's period of prodigality, Joe finds love in Biddy, whom Pip had hoped to woo. Thus, Joe's lack of ambition permits him to pursue objects that Pip's inconstancy diverts his attention from. The unexpected love between Weena and the Time Traveller results from a similar condition of mind, where Weena is unrestricted by any gratuitous duties. Impulses arising from an active, intelligent mind would disrupt the endless digression of the free, happy individual that is Weena. The ramifications of a vigorous mind thus apply in both the Victorian Era and the distant future.