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The Fall of Man in The Time Machine
In his science fiction novel The Time Machine (1895), Herbert George Wells presents the dystopian future of the human society. The Time Traveller, the metadiegetic narrator of the narration, tells of his journey to a time, where images of death seem to predominate the scenery. He uses the white sphinx as a symbol for the entire journey, as the narration seems to follow the riddle of the sphinx in the Oedipus myth. He uses the coloration of the scenery to present a ghostly and cold world and the darkness as a source of fear and death for the Eloi. Because he uses multiple steps to the future, the reader is able to follow the development of humanity towards its extinction. First of all, there is the white sphinx, which is omnipresent throughout the narration. From the first impression the Time Traveller gets of the world in the year 802'720AD, where he sees a “colossal figure … in shape of a winged sphinx” (Chapter 3) to his departure, since his Time Machine is hidden within the white sphinx, the sphinx is present all over the place. David J. Lake argues in his Journal “The White Sphinx and the Whitened Lemur: Images of Death in “The Time Machine””, that the sphinx in the narration might be a reference to the riddling sphinx in the Oedipus myth. The riddle in the original myth centers around the analogy between the solar time and the development of a mans life, as a human being “goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon and on three legs in the evening” (78, David J. Lake). However, the “white leprous … sphinx” (Chapter 6) in the narration does not concern with the life of an individual human being, but rather with the evolutionary cycle of humanity. The narration takes place in different ages, with the world of the Eloi and Morlock representing the world at its three-legged stage and the second journey of the Time Traveller the stage after the extinction of humanity. The narrator supports this approach to some extend, as he uses the same metaphor which is used in the Oedipus myth at the first sunset in the world of the Eloi and Morlock, which made him “thinking of the sunset of mankind” (39). The narrator himself seems to feel like being at a stage of the world, where humanity is close to its extinction. On his second journey, “more than thirty million” (Chapter 11) into the future the author reveals his vision of the conclusion of the human evolution, as he “saw nothing moving, in earth or sky or sea”, a world after the extinction of humanity. The development in the narration can therefore be seen as the evolutionary cycle of the human society which will be concluded in its extinction in the far future. The entire story seems to follow the path of the fall of man and the sphinx can be seen as a symbol for this development, since the sphinx in reference to the riddling sphinx in Greek mythology can be seen as a symbol for this development. On the other side, there is the cold and ghostly atmosphere which evoke the impression of a lifeless world. One of the symbols which evoke this impression of a ghostly world is the whiteness, which predominate the scenery. White is “the color … due to the reflection of all visible rays of light” (Oxford English dictionary) by definition and is therefore the absence of any color rather than a real color. In regard to the narration, this absence of color can be seen as a figurative description of a lifeless world, because the color of life is missing in this future world. This connection between the whiteness and the absence of life is approached by the author with the narrator's description of the Morlock when he encounters them. At the first encounter he “thought [he] could see ghosts. Three several times, as [he] scanned the slope, [he] saw white figures. ” (Chapter 5) At this stage of the narration, the author associates the whiteness of the Morlock with ghastliness, as the narrator confuses the “white figures” with ghosts (Chapter 5) because of their coloration. The narrator connects the ghastliness with a “queer notion of Grant Allen's“ (Chapter 5) and explains the ghosts as the remains of a previous generation. Furthermore, as a major part of the environment in the future seems to be white or whitened, may it be the “white sphinx” (chapter 5), the “white, ape-like” Morlock (chapter 5) or the “white flowers” (chapter 4), the majority of the environment seems to be ghostly and therefore the entire environment evokes the impression of a forgotten world, where only the signs of the past remain, while humanity reachs to its end. Another image of death and therefore a symbol for the fall of man can be seen in the darkness in the narration. To the Eloi the night is a source of fear and death as the Morlock raids occur in the moonlight. In addition to that, the narrator tells in one scene, that “each night there was a longer interval of darkness” (Chapter 7) without giving a specific reason for this development. Even though there might be a logical explanation for this development, the state of the moon, or the season where the narration takes place is never mentioned explicitly. This missing reason behind the “longer interval of darkness” can be seen as a symbolic use of the darkness to evoke the impression of a world which moves towards its end. Because of the Morlock raids, the Eloi associate the night and therefore the darkness with something fearful as it brings death to their society. From their point of view, a longer interval of darkness is directly connected to increased danger and reduced safety for their society. As the reader, it is unknown if this development toward longer intervals of darkness will hold on or stop at some stage, however, if the development holds in, it is a development toward eternal darkness and therefore a development toward eternal fear and death for the Eloi and as they are the only source of nutrition available for the Morlock, a development toward the extinction of the entire humanity. To conclude, the author presents his vision of the future of man at its end of the evolutionary cycle. He uses figurative elements in his narration to evoke the impression of a world, where any form of life will soon come to its end. The riddling sphinx as a symbol for the fall of man at the end of its days, the whiteness as a symbol for the missing color of life and the development toward eternal darkness as a source for eternal danger for the Eloi predominate the scenery in the dystopian future. With these symbols, the author achieves, that the reader gets the impression of a lost world even without the knowledge of the violent conflict between the two post human species.
Language: English
Language Skills: Native speaker, Proficiency
In his science fiction novel The Time Machine (1895), Herbert George Wells presents the dystopian future of the human society. The Time Traveller, the metadiegetic narrator of the narration, tells of his journey to a time, where images of death seem to predominate the scenery. He uses the white sphinx as a symbol for the entire journey, as the narration seems to follow the riddle of the sphinx in the Oedipus myth. He uses the coloration of the scenery to present a ghostly and cold world and the darkness as a source of fear and death for the Eloi. Because he uses multiple steps to the future, the reader is able to follow the development of humanity towards its extinction. First of all, there is the white sphinx, which is omnipresent throughout the narration. From the first impression the Time Traveller gets of the world in the year 802'720AD, where he sees a “colossal figure … in shape of a winged sphinx” (Chapter 3) to his departure, since his Time Machine is hidden within the white sphinx, the sphinx is present all over the place. David J. Lake argues in his Journal “The White Sphinx and the Whitened Lemur: Images of Death in “The Time Machine””, that the sphinx in the narration might be a reference to the riddling sphinx in the Oedipus myth. The riddle in the original myth centers around the analogy between the solar time and the development of a mans life, as a human being “goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon and on three legs in the evening” (78, David J. Lake). However, the “white leprous … sphinx” (Chapter 6) in the narration does not concern with the life of an individual human being, but rather with the evolutionary cycle of humanity. The narration takes place in different ages, with the world of the Eloi and Morlock representing the world at its three-legged stage and the second journey of the Time Traveller the stage after the extinction of humanity. The narrator supports this approach to some extend, as he uses the same metaphor which is used in the Oedipus myth at the first sunset in the world of the Eloi and Morlock, which made him “thinking of the sunset of mankind” (39). The narrator himself seems to feel like being at a stage of the world, where humanity is close to its extinction. On his second journey, “more than thirty million” (Chapter 11) into the future the author reveals his vision of the conclusion of the human evolution, as he “saw nothing moving, in earth or sky or sea”, a world after the extinction of humanity. The development in the narration can therefore be seen as the evolutionary cycle of the human society which will be concluded in its extinction in the far future. The entire story seems to follow the path of the fall of man and the sphinx can be seen as a symbol for this development, since the sphinx in reference to the riddling sphinx in Greek mythology can be seen as a symbol for this development. On the other side, there is the cold and ghostly atmosphere which evoke the impression of a lifeless world. One of the symbols which evoke this impression of a ghostly world is the whiteness, which predominate the scenery. White is “the color … due to the reflection of all visible rays of light” (Oxford English dictionary) by definition and is therefore the absence of any color rather than a real color. In regard to the narration, this absence of color can be seen as a figurative description of a lifeless world, because the color of life is missing in this future world. This connection between the whiteness and the absence of life is approached by the author with the narrator's description of the Morlock when he encounters them. At the first encounter he “thought [he] could see ghosts. Three several times, as [he] scanned the slope, [he] saw white figures. ” (Chapter 5) At this stage of the narration, the author associates the whiteness of the Morlock with ghastliness, as the narrator confuses the “white figures” with ghosts (Chapter 5) because of their coloration. The narrator connects the ghastliness with a “queer notion of Grant Allen's“ (Chapter 5) and explains the ghosts as the remains of a previous generation. Furthermore, as a major part of the environment in the future seems to be white or whitened, may it be the “white sphinx” (chapter 5), the “white, ape-like” Morlock (chapter 5) or the “white flowers” (chapter 4), the majority of the environment seems to be ghostly and therefore the entire environment evokes the impression of a forgotten world, where only the signs of the past remain, while humanity reachs to its end. Another image of death and therefore a symbol for the fall of man can be seen in the darkness in the narration. To the Eloi the night is a source of fear and death as the Morlock raids occur in the moonlight. In addition to that, the narrator tells in one scene, that “each night there was a longer interval of darkness” (Chapter 7) without giving a specific reason for this development. Even though there might be a logical explanation for this development, the state of the moon, or the season where the narration takes place is never mentioned explicitly. This missing reason behind the “longer interval of darkness” can be seen as a symbolic use of the darkness to evoke the impression of a world which moves towards its end. Because of the Morlock raids, the Eloi associate the night and therefore the darkness with something fearful as it brings death to their society. From their point of view, a longer interval of darkness is directly connected to increased danger and reduced safety for their society. As the reader, it is unknown if this development toward longer intervals of darkness will hold on or stop at some stage, however, if the development holds in, it is a development toward eternal darkness and therefore a development toward eternal fear and death for the Eloi and as they are the only source of nutrition available for the Morlock, a development toward the extinction of the entire humanity. To conclude, the author presents his vision of the future of man at its end of the evolutionary cycle. He uses figurative elements in his narration to evoke the impression of a world, where any form of life will soon come to its end. The riddling sphinx as a symbol for the fall of man at the end of its days, the whiteness as a symbol for the missing color of life and the development toward eternal darkness as a source for eternal danger for the Eloi predominate the scenery in the dystopian future. With these symbols, the author achieves, that the reader gets the impression of a lost world even without the knowledge of the violent conflict between the two post human species.
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