The Time Machine - Analysis :: essays research papers

There are numerous people in society who lack certain skills that they need for survival. These people may lack intelligence and depend on other human beings to help them get through life. However, most of the time, it is there fault that they lack these necessities. In â€Å"The Time Machine† by H.G Wells, the Eloi had this problem. They were victims of their own weaknesses because they didn’t understand that learning these important skills was necessary for them to survive. When he arrived in the future, The Time Traveller, after seeing and hearing the Eloi, concluded that they had an extremely low intelligence compared to the people that lived in his time. They were often described as and compared to little children. â€Å"Then one of them asked me a question that showed him to be on the intellectual level of one of our five year old children.†(39) He was very shocked about this weakness that the Eloi possessed. The fact that the Time Traveller lived 800,00 years in the past led him to believe that over time, the generations got less and less intelligent and more involved with having fun compared to the world where he lived. The Time Traveller also realized that the Eloi were very dependent on other people for many of there resources. He mentioned that the Eloi had houses and clothing but he didn’t see any machinery or anything that could possibly produce these items. â€Å"There were no shops, no workshops, no sign of importations among them.† (65) This led him the believe that there had to be someone or something that was making these items for them. Since the Time Traveller had already know about the low intelligence of the Eloi, this didn’t come as surprize to him. He was able to come to the conclusion that the Eloi cannot do very much for themselves. Another fact that the Time Traveler came across was that the Eloi spent all day playing games and doing nothing of importance. He didn't understand how they could get things done and survive in their world. "They spent all day of their time in playing gently, in bathing in the river, in making love in a half-playful fashion, in eating fruit and sleeping. I could not see how things were kept going." (65) He thought that the Eloi acted just like little children. The thing that puzzled him was how the society could function properly when no one took anything seriously. He never saw an Eloi doing work or anything of value. As a result, the Time Traveller didn't understand how the Eloi stayed alive.