The Devolution of Humans Presented in H.G.Wells novella The Time Machine
The people living in the nineteenth century witness a gradual change in their society. The
Victorian ethics, religion and traditions start to lose its value among some people; one of the
reasons that cause that is the rapid advancement in science. In other words, the society gradually
transition from the Victorian era to Modernity. Modernity is a physical movement that cause
actual change in people’s lives; indeed, it reconstructs the English society. The scientist of that
period of time introduce new concepts that counters or refutes the belief of God’s existence. One
of those scientists is Charles Darwin that introduce the theory of evolution which claim that
human evolved originally from an amoeba to conclude that humans aren’t created humans by
God. They just evolved into humans because of environmental changes. That idea of evolution
did interest the English writer Hebert George Wells. He is a writer who is well-known for his
science fictional literary works. In fact, he’s the modern father of science fiction. His novella The
Time Machine, which is published 1895, introduce a fictional time machine that the main
character, the time traveler, uses to travel to the time 802,701. Wells reflects the results of
Darwinism, which is a concept of modernity, to his readers through presenting two species of
humans, the Elios and the Morlocks, to show how the conditions of the 19th century, like the
existence of capitalism in the society, will affect humans resulting them to devolve into these two
species.
Wells reflects Darwin’s theory of evolution through presenting a fictional prediction of
how will human devolve because of capitalism through describing how the Elios and the
Morlocks look like and how they live. Darwin states that humans evolve or devolve based on the
environment. Since capitalism exists, there will be a gap between the haves and the have nots,
and it will only get worse. Based on Darwin’s theory and based on the condition of the English
society which is the gap between the rich and the poor grows, humans will devolve because of
the change of the environment. This is shown in the novella; the protagonist narrates that he
traveled to the time 802,701 to the future. His machine landed near a sphinx statue, and moments
later fragile humane looking creatures approach him who he learns later that they live in old
luxurious palaces in groups. The writer shows that the upper class would devolve into the Elois
in chapter four which as the protagonist, the Time Traveler, describes them as “pretty little
people had a relaxed and childlike gentleness…pink little hands…(15). This description shows
how people became weaker by time that they look like children. The Time Traveler also
describes them as “..people who are lazier and…tired…” (18) to show the results of living a safe
and comfortable life without threats or difficulties. This very comfortable and easy life devolves
humans into weak species with low intelligence. In the nineteenth century, some capitalists who
own factories believed in Darwin’s theory “The survival is for the fittest” which cause them to
do what it takes to maintain their profits, abandoning morals, even if it means that the workers,
who work for them, have to suffer from extreme poverty because of low wages because they
believe they are the fittest. The rich would live this luxurious life for thousands of years with
nothing to worry about ending up to become Elios.
If the upper class would devolve into fragile species (Elois) because of luxury, what
would the lower class evolve or devolve into? When the Time Traveler explores the larger
aspects of the area he arrived to by his time machine, he learns that there are plenty of deep
empty wells which is discovered later that they are used as some kind of air vent. He concludes
that there are living being underground. After he explored the underground, he learns that there
are also other human like creature but they look savage and animalistic which are referred to as
the Morlocks. They weren’t nice as the Elois; they tried to attack the Time Traveler when he
intruded their territory. He describes one of the Morlock’s skin as “dull white”, and “..had
strange greyish eyes…four legs or only with its arms held very low…”. It is as if the poor
condition the poor class from the 19th century suffered from because of working in factories and
subways will result them to devolve into an animalistic like creatures. People from the poor class
in the nineteenth century would die very young because of the many hours they work and the
inhumane places they used to live in because of the extreme poverty they experienced results in
depriving them from their humanity. The writer sheds light on the seriousness of the gap between
the rich and the poor through that would cause humans to devolve and lose what makes them
humans. They either turn into vulgar looking creatures or very fragile creatures which are both
bad, and means that human species wouldn’t last for long if humanity vanishes.
In conclusion, Wells presentation to the Elois and the Morlocks is based on Darwinism,
which is a modern concept referring to Darwin’s theory of evolution, to show how the difficult
conditions that the people of the nineteenth century experience would result into the devolution
of humans by time. Indeed, the growing gap between the upper and lower class would result
them to devolve into two different species that only hold very few human features. One species,
the Elois, live on the upper ground and the other species who are very fragile. Another species
the Morlocks, live underground who are animalistic and vulgar. This is how distanced the social
classes would become because of the greedy haves who aim only to earn profits regardless of the
harm and grief caused upon the have nots for that sake.
Works Cited:
Wells, Herbert. “The Time Machine”. Penguin Readers. Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter.