Time Machine by H. G. Wells: Book Review

When most people think about the evolution of man going into the future, they see flying cars, robots, and extremely intellectual people. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, begs a different idea. As humans evolve, are they becoming an entity that is becoming undeveloped, controlled, and disciplined by Nature? In Victorian England, when The Time Machine was published for the first time, there was a new idea about evolution called “Social Darwinism.” Social Darwinism is “a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated (Dictionary.Reference).” In Simple English, this means that the strongest or fittest should survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die. When the Time Traveler arrives in 802,701 A.D., he encounters a civilization of tender, child-like creatures called the Eloi who he soon learns are frivolous, indolent, and dull-minded, despite their beauty and innocence (Literature and Genetics). The Eloi live in a utopia of perfect communism where each of them dress, eat and live exactly the same. The evolved humanoids seem to have kept some of their ancestors’ emotions although they do not always express them. An example of this is when Weena is drowning in the futuristic Thames River and none of the Eloi makes the slightest attempt to save her. In the Social Darwinism society that the Eloi have implemented, if the Time Traveler had not been there, Weena would have died without any qualms from the rest of the pack. After she is saved, Weena becomes the Time Travelers companion and constantly shows the very human qualities of love, loyalty, and friendship. During the 800,806 years between Victorian England and the futuristic England, there has been a schism between humans living above and below ground. As the Eloi play above