Wells' Social Commentary and Depiction of Social Darwinism

Initially, the Time Traveller believes that the Eloi, being the only "humans" he encountered, to be the result of society's desire for greater security in all aspects of life. He applies the theory of evolution to reach this conclusion. What factors would need to be in place in order for humanity to reach the state he found it in? What benefit could the adaptations of the Eloi serve?

“For the first time I began to realize an odd  consequence  of  the  social  effort  in  which  we  are  at  present  engaged.  And  yet,  come  to  think,  it  is  a  logical  consequence  enough.  Strength  is  the  outcome  of  need;  security  sets  a  premium  on  feebleness.  The  work  of  ameliorating  the  conditions  of  life—the  true  civilizing  process  that  makes  life  more  and  more  secure—had  gone  steadily on to a climax. One triumph of a united humanity over  Nature  had  followed  another.” (37)

“I thought of the physical slightness of the people, their lack  of  intelligence,  and  those  big  abundant  ruins,  and  it  strengthened  my  belief  in  a  perfect  conquest  of  Nature.  For  after  the  battle  comes  Quiet.  Humanity  had  been  strong,  energetic,  and  intelligent,  and  had  used  all  its  abundant  vitality  to  alter  the  conditions  under  which  it  lived.   And   now   came   the   reaction   of   the   altered   conditions. ‘Under  the  new  conditions  of  perfect  comfort  and  security,  that  restless  energy,  that  with  us  is  strength,  would  become  weakness.  Even  in  our  own  time  certain  tendencies  and  desires,  once  necessary  to  survival,  are  a  constant source of failure.” (39)

In the Time Traveller's observation, I believe that Wells is criticizing the desire of 19th century society to move towards comfort and away from the conflicts and strife that are part of survival. At some point, Wells posits, the security and leisure with which we seek to live can be a detriment, especially if we did not achieve it independently. Additionally, Wells establishes that the Time Traveller is a competent and well versed scientist -- he is knowledgeable of current scientific discourse and theory -- this would make readers more trusting of his observations.


Upon discovering that humanity had not involved with complete uniformity, but rather two distinct species: the Uppergrounders and Below Grounders, the Eloi and the Morlocks, the Time Traveller begins speculating on the cause of this divergence. Being the intellectual that he is, the Time Traveller uses the lens of Social Darwinism to refine his theory. It is in this refined theory, that the true social commentary lies.

“The Upper-world people might once have been  the  favoured  aristocracy,  and  the  Morlocks  their  mechanical  servants:  but  that  had  long  since  passed  away.” (71)

   

The Time Traveller postulates:

“And  then  I  thought  once  more  of  the meat that I had seen. I felt assured now of what it was, and  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  pitied  this  last  feeble  rill  from  the  great  flood  of  humanity.  Clearly,  at  some  time in the Long-Ago of human decay the Morlocks’ food had run short. Possibly they had lived on rats and such-like vermin.” (77)

  

The Time Traveller concludes that at some point, the Morlocks and the Eloi lived separate from eachother peacefully, but at some point in time, the peace was jeopardized, and as a result, the once powerful Eloi, now consigned to indolence, were being preyed upon by the once oppressed Morlocks.

“Then  I  tried  to  preserve  myself  from  the  horror  that  was  coming  upon  me,  by  regarding  it  as  a  rigorous  punishment  of  human  selfishness.  Man  had  been  content  to live in ease and delight upon the labours of his fellow-man,  had  taken  Necessity  as  his  watchword  and  excuse,  and  in  the  fullness  of  time  Necessity  had  come  home  to  him.” (78)

If the Eloi are the aristocracy, and the Morlocks are the working class, Wells commentary is evident. Separation of the working class from the aristocracy in such a strict and rigid fashion will ultimately culminate in violence when one of the groups inevitably seeks to reject the societal bounds. The Social commentary is made even more coherent when considering the Time Traveller's own thoughts of the separation of class in England: 

"Even  now,  does  not  an  East-end  worker  live  in  such  artificial  conditions  as  practically  to  be  cut  off  from  the natural surface of the earth? (60)"

While the theories of Social Darwinism help to create a science fiction text that is somewhat accurate in speculation, they are far more impactful to the readers as they apply to the current societal conditions. The separation of the aristocracy and the working class, made larger and larger by gaps in education and affluence are explicitly warned against by Wells. The ideas of social structure and their implications for the future generations of society that Wells deals with are profound, and carry relevance even in today's society. 

The Morlocks

The second of the two divergent species of man are known as the Morlocks. Unlike the Eloi, the Morlocks evolved in subterranean conditions, and because of this, are drastically different physically than the Eloi.  As one would expect based on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the Morlock's display adaptations to better suit them for their Underground abode. The Morlocks represent the working class of Wells' time.

Physical Descriptions of the Morlocks:

“A  pair  of  eyes,  luminous  by  reflection  against  the  daylight  without,  was  watching me out of the darkness” (56)

“My  impression  of  it  is,  of  course,  imperfect;  but  I  know it was a dull white, and had strange large greyish-red eyes; also that there was flaxen hair on its head and down its  back…It was so like a human spider!” (57)

"Plainly, this second species of man was subterranean." (59)

“They  were  just  the  half-bleached  colour of the worms and things one sees preserved in spirit in a zoological museum. And they were filthily cold to the touch.” (63)

"unpleasant creatures from below, these whitened Lemurs, this new vermin that had replaced the old" (64)

"their eyes were abnormally large and sensitive" (66)

"The Morlocks at any rate were carnivorous!" (67)

“You  can  scarce  imagine  how  nauseatingly  inhuman  they  looked—those  pale,  chinless  faces  and  great,  lidless,  pinkish-grey  eyes!—as  they  stared  in  their  blindness  and  bewilderment.” (69)

"dexterous climbers" (73)

The Eloi

One of the most surprising aspects of this future world is the evolution of man into two distinct species. The first of these species that the Time Traveller encounter are the peaceful and childlike, Eloi. The Eloi are representative of the aristocracy of Wells' time.

Physical Descriptions of the Eloi:

“He was a slight creature—perhaps four feet high—clad in a purple tunic, girdled at the waist with a leather belt. Sandals or buskins—I could not clearly distinguish which—were on his feet; his legs were bare to the knees, and his head was bare...He struck me as  being  a  very  beautiful  and  graceful  creature, but indescribably frail. His flushed face reminded me of  the  more  beautiful  kind  of  consumptive—that  hectic  beauty  of  which  we  used  to  hear  so  much." (27)

"there was something in these pretty little people  that  inspired  confidence—a  graceful  gentleness,  a certain childlike ease" (28)

"I saw some further peculiarities in their Dresden-china type of prettiness. Their hair, which was uniformly curly, came to a  sharp  end  at  the  neck  and  cheek;  there  was  not  the  faintest  suggestion  of  it  on  the  face,  and  their  ears  were  singularly  minute.  The mouths were small, with bright  red, rather thin lips, and the little chins ran to a point. The eyes were large and mild" (28)

"Then one of  them  suddenly  asked  me  a  question  that  showed  him  to  be  on  the  intellectual  level  of  one  of  our  five-year-old  children—  asked  me,  in  fact,  if  I  had  come  from  the  sun  in  a  thunderstorm!  It let loose  the  judgment  I  had  suspended  upon  their  clothes,  their  frail  light  limbs,  and  fragile  features. A flow of disappointment rushed across my mind." (29)

"Fruit, by the by, was all their diet. These people of the remote future were strict vegetarians" (32)

"Then,  in  a  flash,  I  perceived  that  all  had  the  same  form  of  costume,  the  same  soft  hairless  visage,  and  the  same  girlish  rotundity  of  limb… Now,  I  saw  the  fact  plainly  enough.  In  costume,  and  in  all  the  differences  of  texture  and  bearing  that now mark off the sexes from each other, these people of  the  future  were  alike.  And  the  children  seemed  to  my  eyes  to  be  but  the  miniatures  of  their  parents.  I  judged,  then,  that  the  children  of  that  time  were  extremely  precocious,  physically  at  least,  and  I  found  afterwards  abundant verification of my opinion.” (35)

The World of 802,700

"It was of white marble, in shape something like a winged sphinx, but the wings, instead of being carried vertically at the sides, were spread so that it seemed to hover. The pedestal, it appeared to me, was of bronze, and was thick with verdigris." (Wells 25)

- This is the description that the Time Traveller gives of the large statue he sees upon exiting his Time Machine. The statue proves to be very significant to the story when the Time Machine is stolen by the Morlocks and stored below in the pedestal. Just as Oedipus must answer the riddle of the sphinx to pass, the Time Traveller must find a way to "defeat" the sphinx - that is to say, he must find a way to open the bronze pedestal and retrieve his means of escape.

"Already  I  saw  other  vast  shapes—huge  buildings  with  intricate parapets and tall columns, with a wooded hill-side dimly creeping in upon me through the lessening storm" (26)

“You who have  never  seen  the  like  can  scarcely  imagine  what  delicate  and  wonderful  flowers  countless  years of culture had created” (29)

“My general impression of the world I saw over their heads was a tangled waste of beautiful bushes and flowers, a long neglected and yet weedless garden” (30)

“I saw a number of tall spikes  of  strange  white  flowers,  measuring  a  foot  perhaps  across the spread of the waxen petals. They grew scattered, as if wild, among the variegated shrubs” (30)

“and  upon  these  were  heaps  of  fruits.  Some  I  recognized  as  a  kind  of  hypertrophied  raspberry  and  orange, but for the most part they were strange.” (31)

“Indeed,  I  found  afterwards  that  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  dogs,  had  followed  the  Ichthyosaurus  into  extinction” (32)

“I realized that there were no small  houses  to  be  seen.  Apparently  the  single  house,  and  possibly even the household, had vanished. Here and there among  the  greenery  were  palace-like  buildings,  but  the  house  and  the  cottage,  which  form  such  characteristic  features of our own English landscape, had disappeared. ‘"Communism,’ said I to myself.” (34)

The world that the Time Traveller discovers is essentially a Utopia. Having mastered nature, the people of this future time live in a world without weeds, insects, bacteria or fungi. Evidently, the only things that grow are of benefit to mankind. This world of leisure and abundance is critical to the theories that the Time Traveller establishes in the text - it is the foundation of the change in the Eloi.