The following are COHS student reviews of “The Time Machine” by H. G. Wells.

Genre: Science and World Fiction

Pages: 190

Reviewer: Josh B.
The book starts in the late 1800’s with the protagonist, known as the Time Traveler, suddenly entering his house very tired and looking as if he has been through quite an ordeal. At this moment, he proceeds to tell his story to his fellow peers.  He tells of his time machine that took him to the year 802,701. While there he meets a group of  beings called The Eloi. While there, he takes the time to study the Eloi and learn about them. Then all of a sudden, the traveler notices that his time machine is missing and is incapable of asking the Eloi where it is. As time goes on he encounters the brutish Morlocks who have control over the Eloi, as if they were cattle. As the story progress, the time traveler and one of the Eloi encounter several Morlock and find themselves fighting for their lives. He is than able to locate his time machine and escape to safety. He then travels even further into the future to discover a barren land. After that he returns back to the present, which is where the book started. After he tells his story, he tells his peers that he is going to travel again and will be back shortly. Much time past and where is went remains a mystery…
Very interesting book. It had lots of action and a nerve-racking story. You also felt an emotional bond with the characters.

1. To better illustrate the wrong that is done with having a somewhat class structure.

2. To show a still existing class struggle, thousands of years in the future.

3. The author supports the theme by showing that there is a class struggle among the creatures (The Peaceful Eloi and the brutish Morlocks) he meets, thousands of years in the future.

4. It has a continuing struggle between the two classes (Eloi and Morlocks). During the book, the protagonist finds himself siding with the peace loving Eloi. Unfortunately, the two classes are so different and the Morlocks are so brutish that there is no chance of change. This leaves the protagonist no choice, but to continue finding his way back to the present as he intended to.