About the author

Wells was born into a poor family of shopkeepers in Kent in 1866.  He left his teaching position when he was in his early thirties to write The Time Machine, which was published in 1895.  The huge success of this novel led him to follow his dreams of authorship as he continued to write science fiction novels with The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, and The Island of Dr. Moreau.  In 1914, Wells fell in love with and married his idea of the perfect woman, an author by the name of Rebecca West.  As he got older, Wells began predicting the end of society and died at the age of 80, soon after the detonation of the first atomic bomb. 

Summary

The most obvious theme in The Time Machine is that of a continuing class struggle, even 800,000 years in the future.  As the Time Traveler overlooks the future Earth he notices that the individual family has disappeared and presumes this society to be a form of communism.  This theory is disproved when our hero is introduced to the Morlocks, but we can then begin to see obvious distinctions between what we believe are the Haves and the Have-nots.  Even in the names of the two species we can notice discrepancies.  The word Eloi itself sounds like the word 'elite,' describing a rich, elite being, while Morlocks is a seemingly perfect word to describe a brutish, ape-like creature.  Everything about these two beings points toward the Time Traveler's theory that he is at the apex of civilization, where the two major classes of society have become so set in their positions that there is no possibility of climbing the proverbial social ladder.  As we later find out, there are two distinct classes, set in their ways to the point where there is no social interchange, but it is not the Eloi who rule the Morlocks.  However, Morlocks simply use the Eloi as cattle, providing them with clothes and shelter as a farmer would provide for his herd.  The Time Traveler notices early on that there are no weak and enfeebled to be seen amongst the Eloi and he later determines that the Morlocks feed off their above ground cousins.  The Morlocks seem to hunt their food at night since their bodies have adapted to living in the dark depths of the Earth.  This would explain Weena's extreme fear of dark places and also why the Eloi sleep in large groups

The novel begins during some sort of gathering of townspeople at the Time Traveler's home.they were arguing about the claim of the traveler about his time traveling experience , trying to prove him wrong by scientific arguments  From the description of the house, we gather that the story takes place in the mid to late 19th century England.  The Time Traveler sparks a conversation about the existence of a Fourth Dimension - Time.  Those in the room contest his 'discovery' by arguing that we cannot move freely throughout time; therefore it cannot be a dimension on the same level as length, breadth, and height.  To validate his claim, the Time Traveler leaves the room and returns with a "glittering, metallic framework" resembling some sort of carriage. After explaining to the group that this model is a scale time machine he has built over the past two years, he uses the Psychologist to set the mechanism in motion. He himself tried it out and demonstrated the entire process to the public . With the push of a small lever, the machine vanishes. As everyone stares in disbelief, the Time Traveler announces his plan to explore this new Fourth Dimension and unveils a full-size time machine, nearly completed. 

It is a week later. The Narrator returns to the Time Traveler's home in Richmond.  There he finds the Medical Man (here he is also referred to as the Doctor) and the Psychologist, both of whom were at the previous meeting.  Also at the house are three newcomers: a newspaper editor (Blank), a journalist (Dash) and a "quiet, shy man with a beard" (Chose).they were about to have their dinner as it was the dinner time but un expectedly   The Time Traveler is not yet present, but a note he has left directs everyone to start dinner without him. After some time when every one was having their dinner Halfway through the meal, the Time Traveler bursts into the house "in an amazing plight." He appears dirty, disordered, haggard, and drawn.  After a brief welcome, the Time Traveler retreats to his bedroom to get a change of clothes then returns to eat dinner. After a few moments after getting a change of clothes the time traveler joined them for the meal .  When the meal is finished, The Time Traveler begins to tell the story of what has happened to him since four o'clock that afternoon.  Here, the Narrator makes a point to note that words alone cannot accurately describe the Time Traveler's tail by noting: "You cannot know how his expression followed the turns of the story!"

He was quite exited to share his story regarding the time travel. The Time Traveler begins his story by describing by in detail what the "peculiar sensations of time travel" feel like.  At the start, he is traveling approximately one day per minute, but by the end of his journey, that pace has increased to over one year per minute.  After what feels like an eternity of swaying on the machine, the Time Traveler builds up the nerve to stop by pulling on the second of the two levers.  The inertia of the Time Traveler and the machine causes him to fly helplessly through the air as he tugs on the lever to bring his journey to a crashing halt.  He finds himself amidst a terrible hailstorm that soon subsides, allowing him to better view this future land.  The first thing he sees is a giant stature, apparently made from marble and carved in the shape of a sphinx with it's wings outspread.  With the storm over, "people" that have noticed the appearance of an outsider come rushing to the time machine for a closer inspection. They did not look too groomed and had a hazy reflection.  The first to reach him is referred to as a man and described as being four feet tall, clad in a purple tunic with some type of belt around the waistline.  "He struck me as being a beautiful and graceful creature, but indescribably frail. At the sight of him, I suddenly regained confidence." Almost all of them were short creatures.

During his first day in the year 802,701, the Time Traveler meets more of the small, childlike surface dwellers, which will later be referred to as the Eloi.  His explorations lead him to discoveries such as a slight movement in the flow of the ThamesRiver. He also notes the lack of individual houses and families and begins to make hypotheses on how society has changed over the past eight hundred thousand years.  He accounts the poor upkeep of the magnificent buildings and structures to a possible population growth control plan that worked all to well and actually created a decrease in population.  It is important to note that the Time Traveler hints to us that these theories are not true at all as he says, "Very simple was my explanation, and plausible enough - as most wrong theories are!"

Major character introduction as well as theme and plot development helps to make this the longest, and probably the most important chapter in the book.  As he wakes on his second day in the future, the Time Traveler finds that his time machine has been taken.  Investigation leads him to believe it has been pushed into the hollow bronze base of the White Sphinx.  Frustrated, the Time Traveler loses his temper and harasses some of the passing Eloi trying to reclaim his passage home.  Distraught, he somehow manages to scrape together his patience and calm himself by thinking that he will somehow get the time machine back.  In order to try and gain a better understanding of this new world, the Time Traveler continues his exploration of the ThamesRiverValley.  For the first time, he notices a large number of pipes protruding from the ground, both short and tall.  Seeming to appear in pairs, he concludes that the smaller of the set is some type of well and the larger is a type of smokestack, all a part of some vast underground ventilation system.  Much like his first theories, this one too will later prove to be inaccurate. 

Weena is also introduced in this chapter in a rather interesting manner.  On his third morning, the Time Traveler is watching the Eloi bathe in the river when one of them is swept away by the weak current.  When none of the pathetic little creatures attempts a rescue of the seemingly lost member, the Time Traveler wades into the river and grabs her (he tells us he is assuming it is a 'her').  He will spend much of his remaining week in the future with Weena, the 'woman' he rescued, learning the language and ways of the Eloi. 

The Time Traveler soon learns that emotions are not lost on these people of the future, contrary to what he first thought.  He makes specific note of their terrible fear of the dark.  "Darkness to her was the one thing dreadful." Later in the chapter, our hero first encounters the Morlocks, a race of subterranean humans.  He describes a Morlock as ape-like with white skin and large eyes, adaptations that most likely are the result of living beneath the surface for ages.  The introduction of these Under-worlders forces him to change his hypothesis on the position of society. He now reasons that the Eloi represent what he calls the "Haves" and the Morlocks would then be the "Have-nots.

The Time Traveler's experience with the Morlocks left him trying to remove the whole ordeal from his memory. During his next exploration, he spies a large green building, which he refers to as the Palace of Green Porcelain.  This building plays a major role later in the story.  He decides to investigate this building thoroughly, but before he can do that, he convinces himself that he must first build up the courage to head underground and deal with the Morlocks.  Weena accompanies him to the well, but leaves after he delves into the unknown, probably out of fear of the disgusting creatures.  After navigating the labyrinth of underground tunnels, the Time Traveler enters a large alcove in which he can see and hear large machinery hard at work.  As Morlocks approach him, he fends them off with a match, but soon realizes that his match supply is running low. While escaping from the underground lair of these subterranean monsters, our hero uses up the last of his matches, noting how unprepared he was for his voyage through time

Seeking refuge from the Morlocks as the New Moon approaches, the Time Traveler and Weena head out to the Palace of Green Porcelain. Unable to reach it before nightfall, they are forced to spend the night on a hillside, susceptive to any attack from the man-apes.  This chapter serves mainly as a type of open forum for the thoughts of the Time Traveler.  He ponders how the Morlocks came to be dominant and why he has an instinctive hate for them.  His new plans are to create some type of weapon to fight the Morlocks with, find some source of fire the fend them off, and devise a way to open the bronze base of the White Sphinx

In search of some type of supplies, the Time Traveler heads toward the Palace of Green Porcelain with Weena one afternoon.  He finds the building "deserted and falling into ruin." Upon further investigation, he discovers that this "palace" is actually a type of museum with sections for paleontology, geology, and even natural history.  As they reach a larger room filled with complex machines, Weena's fears alert the Time Traveler to the diminishing light and the probably presence of the Morlocks.  Before leaving the Palace, the Time Traveler finds a perfectly preserved box of matches, a highly inflammable substance known as camphor, and a lever he has broken off one of the machines to be used both as a mace and a pry bar for the bronze doors.  He feels a renewed sense of confidence now that he has the ability to fend off the Morlocks both with fire and a club.

Upon leaving the Palace of Green Porcelain, the Time Traveler hopes to reach the other side of the dense forest before nightfall, and set up camp.  From there, he plans to return to the White Sphinx the following morning.  Unfortunately, things rarely work out as planned.  He and Weena are forced to set up camp within the dark forest, but with a fire lit by the camphor to protect them.  Due to extreme fatigue, they both fall asleep and the fire goes out, leaving them prone to an attack by the Morlocks.  Toward sunrise, the Time Traveler awakens to see the Morlocks fleeing for their lives, running awkwardly as if they were blind.  An earlier fire he had used to help flee the palace had spread rapidly and was now closing in on him.  The Time Traveler eventually reaches safety, beating the Morlocks with his iron pipe along the way, but Weena was left in the forest to burn, a better ending than what awaited her beneath the surface

As he nears the White Sphinx, the Time Traveler notices that the bronze panels have opened, revealing the time machine waiting for him inside the pedestal.  Without a second thought, he enters the dark base and is almost immediately locked inside.  Convinced their trap has worked flawlessly, the Morlocks begin to surround him, but what they don't realize is what the machine they had found is capable of.  The Time Traveler faces some difficulty in reattaching the control levers as the Morlocks attack him, but he eventually disappears into the Fourth Dimension. 

In his hurried escape from the Morlocks, the Time Traveler mistakenly pushes himself further into the future.  During his first stop he encounters an odd display of evolution as he finds a type of centipede, three feet tall and thirty feet long.  He journeys further into the future until he reaches what he determines to be near the end of the universe before he returns to his own time. 

As he concludes his story for his guests, he waits for a reaction from them.  No one that had been listening believes his story except for the Narrator who has not made up his mind.  The Narrator returns to the Time Traveler's house the next day in an effort to ease his mind as to whether or not the time machine actually works.  The Time Traveler promises proof of the success of his invention given only a half hour to gather the evidence.

The Narrator notes that it has been 3 years since the Time Traveler made that promise and disappeared from his laboratory in a gust of wind.  He makes a few unspecific claims as to where the Time Traveler could be to explain why he has not returned, but seems to have decided that the machine truly does work

this is the most amazing work of fiction regarding time travelling and also a tribute to h g wells.