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Chapter I
The Time Machine as H. G. Wells’s Social Criticism on the Social Status
Difference of the 19th Century England
1.1. Background of Choosing the Subject
H. G. Wells‘s works varies from non-fictional work such as the
Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human
Life and Thought in 1901, to several fictional works which are still well-known
even up to these days. From those pieces, he was also known as the father of
science fiction genre by bringing forth the literary works with the theme of
experiments, science, and how it will affects human race. In the Encyclopediæ of
Britanica , it is said that ―Science fiction deals with human drama, the conflicts
and adventures, arising out of scientific discovery in the future‖ (124). What is
meant by scientific discoveries can be both the one that is already been done and
those which are still imaginary. Unlike fantasy, science fiction relies more on
scientific theory and mainly discuss various possible researches or scientific
practice and the moral values in researches. H. G. Wells was a pro in combining
scientific fact with narrative writings. With his works, H. G. Wells also showed
that literature could be the media of self-reflection on how human should position
themselves in their quest of seeking knowledge or the truth.
Wells showed how science fiction could become a medium of conveying
veiled opinion or thought of the author, as suggested by I. A. Richards in his
book Principles of Literary Criticism that, ―For the arts is the supreme form of
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communicative activity‖ (26). What is meant by arts according to the above
quotation includes all type of artistic works including literary works. Literature is
a form of communicative activity, which means to convey ideas and thoughts to
the reader, and would earn response from the readers‘ mind as a form of response
to the literary works.
Prose, play, and poetry are written media used by the author to convey
their opinion regarding certain issues or problems currently emerges in their mind
regarding all aspect of life such as nature, politics, and society. Wells used literary
works to convey what he saw and how he felt about it. In 1951, Scott-James wrote
about his impression on Wells‘s subjective writing, and how Wells was ―...writing
about the world, that is to say, as it appeared to him by dint of his own personal
experience and his own instinctive reaction to reality‖ (24).
Among the many issues that Wells touched upon with his literary works,
social class issue was one of them. Social class is one of major issues that had
been known in Europe during the 19th century, the era in which H. G Wells lived.
The social class differences since the Victorian era had caused quite an uproar in
the society. The Industrial Revolution sucked up men powers from villages and
hamlets into factory towns, decreasing farm products supply. The growing
capitalism in the city presses the laborers and creates inhuman living condition of
the factory workers. The factory towns were over crowded with cheap laborers
and the factories were never stopped operating under the tired hands of the
overworked laborers.
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Laborers during that time come in big wave of men powers. Because of
massive move of the people from the villages to towns where there were factories,
the price for their service dropped significantly. They could not do anything but
accept their low wages. Factory owners took advantage of the workers
helplessness and desperation for money, and created insane labor hours and
keeping their wages to the minimum. ―They thus called into employment a large
competing supply of labour which, having less power of resistance or lower
standard of life, was used both to beat down wages and to extend the hours of
labours to an inhuman length‖ (Cole 20). The long working hours and low wages
of the working class as seen in the passage above were applied so that the
factories could utilize the machines they had to their maximize their production
capability. The machines never stopped working and so did the workers who
operated the machines. Their speed of working was also pushed to the limit, to
match the speed of the machines. ―Therefore, the workers are not only
congregated in factories, but also speeded up, and worked hard and long, in order
that the machines and the power may achieve their maximum utility‖ (Cole 20).
The way they treat the working class during the industrial revolution was
inhuman. All the hard work had to be done in insanely long and constant working
hours. Women and children were also worked at factories and mines. The wage
paid was the minimum because of the maximum effort by the capitalist to earn as
much profit with as little production costs.
The Time Machine has the main character travelled into the future where
there is no longer human race inhabiting the planet Earth. There are two new races
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left there, the Morlock and the Eloi, which are, stated in the novellas implicitly,
the evolution of the original human race. Several characteristics and the relation
between the two races are rather similar with the society in England during
Industrial Revolution seen through H. G. Wells‘s eyes. Therefore, the possibility
of a relation between those races from different age, exist. H. G. Wells‘s personal
opinion on social class system could also become the reason of the Morlock and
the Eloi‘s characterization.
This particular work is chosen because the concept of future possibilities
and the fate of the human race are included. H. G. Wells‘s version of the future,
gives the reader a new way of thinking. Here, Wells give out the concept of
human decay where the human evolution has gone downward toward doom and
extinction. This is quite anti-mainstream theory because during that time,
Darwin‘s theory about evolution and ―survival of the fittest‖ was booming at that
time. Making a theory about a human decay lies beyond evolution of human kind
is such an interesting concept. It also came out in such an early time delivered in
The Time Machine. The novella affects greatly to the readers‘ concept of the
future.
1.2. Objectives of The Study
This research explores the work to see H. G. Wells‘s thought on social
class issue during the 19th century England, found in his work The Time Machine.
It is also aimed at figuring out the connection of the two new human races, which
are the Morlock and the Eloi, created by H. G. Wells in The Time Machine, with
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the two social classes found in the actual England society during the Victorian era
of the actual England 19th century.
1.3. Focus of the Examination
The study is focused on how H. G. Wells depicts both physical and
mental characteristics of the Eloi and the Morlock found in the literary work. The
events made by the author, happened in the future found in The Time Machine are
the focus of the study as well. Because the research also digs possible H. G.
Wells‘s personal thought on the social class difference, the author‘s background
information plays big role in extracting the hidden meaning or excerpts. Therefore,
H. G. Wells‘s background information is also included as the focus of
examination.
1.4. Scope of the Study
The scope of the study is on the Eloi and Morlock, as seen in The Time
Machine especially the similarities they have to the ruling class and the working
class existed during the time H. G. Wells wrote the piece. Therefore, the society
of the England 19th century, which is the time The Time Machine was published,
is also included into the scope of the study as supporting data.
1.5.
Theoretical Approach
This research uses expressive approach which sees a literary work as the
imaginative process of the author. It is like what Abrams suggested in his book,
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The Mirror and the Lamp under the ―Expressive Theories‖ subtitle. He wrote
―Poetry is defined in terms of the imaginative process which modifies and
synthesizes the images, thoughts, and feelings of the poet‖ (22). He also wrote in
his other book, The Glossary of Literary Terms that,
―The central feature of expressionism is a radical revolt against
realism. Instead of representing the world as it objectively is, the
author undertakes to express inner experience by representing the
world as it appears to his state of mind, or to that of one of his
characters—an emotional, troubled, or abnormal state of mind‖
(57).
That means the poet here, or in this case the author of the literature work,
act as the source of all the phrases in a literature work. The theory focuses more
on the connection between the author and the text, about seeking what the author
is trying to convey through the literature work. Wordsworth in the Preface to his
Lyrical Ballads also said, ―Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings: It takes its origins from emotion recollected in tranquility‖ (Eliot 301).
This is another theory that sees literary work as a product of author‘s imagination
Another passage regarding expressive theory could also be found in other
books. One of them is Holman‘s A Handbook to Literature. There he defined
expressive theory as ―… a term used by M. H. Abrams, that designates a theory of
art which holds the object of the artist to be the expressions of the artist‘s
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emotions, impressions, or beliefs; an essential doctrine of the Romantic critics‖
(179).
What Abrams and Wordsworth meant by poetry there is all type of
literature or written works that is considered artistic. That means it also includes
prose, plays, drama script, novel, and novella.
The paper would like to look deeper and find the author‘s perspective
embedded in the Morlocks and the Eloi found in The Time Machine. Thus, an
author-centered approach, in another words expressive approach, is the best to be
used. It is because this approach sees the literature work as the inner feeling and
thought of the author himself. In other words, literature works reveals the inner
feeling of the author though not being explicitly shown.
1.6.
Research Method
The method of research conducted in this research is library research.
The dialogues and phrases are extracted from the literature work and are treated as
the data source. His thoughts shown in the literature work are later connected to
the possible actual situation of the English 19th century. Each of the data is
supported by the actual historical fact related to the social class issue in 19th
century England. From the analysis of the data, connection between 19th century
actual social class and the imaginary new future races are found, and conclusion
of how H. G. Wells think about the currently existing social system is drawn.
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1.7. Literature Review
Great numbers of researches with the same data source had already been
conducted. Few focus more on how Wells projects the future in The Time
Machine. One of them is Crabtree‘s essay, Anticipations: The Remarkable
Forecast of H. G. Wells where he picked up several of Wells work as a forecast of
the future and how it has high accuracy to the present world. There is also a
research conducted on the film version of the novella. It is conducted by Roger A.
Berger in 1989 and the title of the research is “Ask What You Can Do for Your
Country”: The Film Version of H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine and The Cold
War. It focuses on how the society in The Time Machine is the manifestation of
Wells‘s growing concern on the degradation of human and that human race will
be doomed to extinction in the future. However, the research data source is the
film version which had been modified with several changes, different from the
original novella written by H. G. Wells. In Building Cosmopolis: The Political
Thought of H. G. Wells/H. G. Wells: Traversing Time by John R. Reed, the essay
shows how The Time Machine contains H. G. Wells‘s political thought especially
in the proletariat revolution.
Among those academic writings taking the same literature work as the
data source, there are none of them focusing on connecting the characteristics of
the Morlock and the Eloi with H. G. Wells‘s opinion towards the working class
and the ruling class of England society in 19th century.
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1.8. Presentation
The paper is divided into four parts. This chapter, as the introductory part,
starts with the reason of the researcher to choose the topic, as well as the objective
of the study conducted. The scope of the study in the research, the method used in
the process is also included in the introduction part.
The second part of the paper covers basic information of the background
information of H. G. Wells as the author of ―The Time Machine‖, the society of
England in the 19th century, and the synopsis of the story told in the literature
work used as the data source. The third part is the data analysis. Detailed
information on the Eloi and Morlock is then analyzed and related to the historical
facts on the actual condition of the working class and the ruling class during the
actual 19th century in England, based on the information gathered. Events
happening in the book are also extracted as H. G. Wells‘s opinion on social class.
The author‘s background information serves as the supporting data on statements
and analysis written in the paper.