When Wells sat down to write the Time Machine, the industrial revolution was pulsating in high gear throughout England. Yet, instead of the advances in industrialization and technology reducing inequality among England’s masses, capitalism had taken root and produced greater inequality. For Wells, who always considered himself as “a have not,” capitalism would eventually result in an expanding gulf between an ever-growing number of “have nots” and an ever diminishing number of “haves.”  Upon reaching early adulthood, Wells had become a socialist and to a lesser extend a communist.

In my opinion, the Time Machine was written as a political commentary on the evils of capitalism and not principally as a work of science fiction. Wells uses the time machine to transport the reader to the time when capitalism has finally (and inevitably) destroyed everything once valued by man. I think the Time Machine’s inventor is really Wells incognito.

The inventor-Time Traveler’s discussion of the world 800,000 years plus into the future leaves no doubt about the books socio-economic message. The Time Traveler repeatedly alludes to the destructiveness of capitalism, the exploitation of the proletariat, inequality of the quality of life, and the evil by-products of industrialization. These social ills and not some pandemic had led to the destruction of all social order in the very far future.  The exploitation by the rich of the poor had encouraged the evolution of two diametrically opposed groups of humanoids, the Eloi and Morlocks. It is understood that this evolutionary process had started in Wells’ Victorian England.

The Story Continued…

Back in 1895 on the following Thursday, the guests arrived at the Time Traveler’s home as promised. He was inexplicably not available to greet them. While waiting for their host, the gentlemen occupied their time discussing the preposterous claims of time travel. As their hunger became uncontrollable, they decided to start dinner without their host. They refused to allow good food go to waste.

After having partially sated their appetite, they heard strange noises emanating from the Time Traveler’s workshop. The noises grew in intensity until, all of sudden, there was an eerie silence. Next, the guests heard someone walking through the hallway that led from the workshop. Suddenly, the hallway door pushed upon and through it stepped the Time Traveler. There was a collective gasp in the room. His clothes were rumpled and stained with different colors. The Time Traveler looked like he hadn’t bathed in ages. His feet were bloodied and covered in rags.

Time Traveler broke the palpable suspense by speaking. He asked for and received a drink, which he gladly gulped down. What he said next got the attention of his guests. They moved forward to the edge of their chairs. He had just returned from traveling through time and would like to share his adventure with them. He made them stipulate that during his discourse there would no interruptions. The Time Traveler settled back into his chair and began to tell his story.

The time machine worked flawlessly. The Time Traveler described the temporal scenes that bombarded his senses while he flew through time. The Time Machine traveled towards a never-ending future. The machine came to a complete stop in front of a large white edifice of a winged sphinx in the year 810,701.

In the distant future, the landscape had changed dramatically, though some land features were still recognizable. What had changed drastically were the inhabitants of the land. The inhabitants of the world bore no resemblance to humanity of 1895 England. Diminutive pale-white humanoid creatures were frolicking about the land.

After sustained interaction with the inhabitants over days, the Time Traveler concluded that the Eloi were devoid of intellectual curiosity and discipline. They seemed to lack the desire to improve their lives. All  day, they frolic about, eating fruit and making love with each other. Over the thousands of years, man had long ago regressed, evolutionary speaking, to the level of a small child.

The Eloi’s lack of shelter building skills was clear by the decay of physical remnants of technologies long extinct. Yet, the Eloi were dressed in similarly tailored tunics that they, themselves, could not have manufactured. Logic dictated that there had to be some other force influencing Eloi society.  There was a puzzle to be solved.

One day the time machine disappeared. It was no longer in front of the white sphinx. A preliminary search of the area did not reveal any evidence as to where it had been gone. Did someone remove it or was it activated and traveled to another time? However, the machine could not have been activated without the lever keys, which were in the pocket of the Time Traveler. Reason led to the conclusion that the Eloi played no role in the disappearance of the machine. Then who or what was responsible for removing the time machine? Within a short time, the answer to that question would present itself.