History Literature / TheTimeMachine

''[[http://pd.sparknotes.com/lit/timemachine/ The Time Machine: An Invention]]'' is a classic tale of TimeTravel, published in 1895, and one of the first to use a scientific mechanism to achieve it.[[note]]''Not'' the first as commonly believed. It was predated by Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau's ''El anacronópete'', published in 1887, as well as by Wells's own ''The Chronic Argonauts'', published in 1888.[[/note]] Where most predecessors had used [[AllJustADream visions]] to achieve the time travel, and only sent their protagonists TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, Creator/HGWells had his protagonist invent an actual time machine and travel into the far future.

* FutureSocietyPresentValues: Back when the book was written, English society could be mostly divided into two classes, the aristocracy and working class. H. G. Wells assumed this model would remain for over 800 thousand years, finally separating mankind into two different species. However, the twentieth century brought radical changes in society and today even the middle class has three sub-classes.

* WorkingClassHero: If the Traveller's theory is correct, [[spoiler: averted. The hypothetical evolutionary split between the Eloi and the Morlocks was started by the human social class system, wherein the lower classes became the beastly Morlocks.]]

* FramingDevice: The narrator is a guest at the Time Traveller's party, who for all but the first two chapters and the final chapter is taking dictation from the Time Traveller.

The Time Traveler decides this is the inevitable result of class struggle. The parasitic rich have degenerated into the effete Eloi while the working classes, treated like beasts, have become just that. The Time Traveler later mentions that this explanation may be wrong, but never gives an alternative.

After a succession of adventures, the Time Traveler returns to his machine, takes a short trip ToTheFutureAndBeyond when the sun itself is dying, then returns to the present day, where he tells his story. A few days later, he sets off again, and never returns.

* AmbiguousSituation: At the end, the traveler leaves for another trip but never returns. The nameless writer suggests multiple possible theories - maybe he chose to stay in the future, maybe he was hunted down by some caveman or dinosaur in the past; in any case, they'll never know unless he returns.

* CockroachesWillRuleTheEarth: Probably the UrExample: at the end of the book the Time Traveler discovers that in the distant future Earth's dominant life form is going to be some sort of giant crab-like creatures.
* CryingWolf: One reason the Time Traveler's friends are so skeptical of his claims at first is that he's tricked them into believing outlandish, and false, stories [[NoodleIncident several times before]].
* DamselInDistress: The Time Traveler forms a bond with Weena, after rescuing her from drowning.
* DownerEnding: When he travels even further into the future, the Time Traveler finds that even the Morlock civilization eventually collapsed, civilization never recovered, and the only human-descended animal he can find is a round hopping thing.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The protagonist is referred as the Time Traveler, and in the framing story, he tells his tale to a group of men identified by their description: The Editor, The Provincial Mayor, The Medical Man, etc. In fact, only two personal names appear in the entire book: Filby in the framing story and Weena in the future narrative. This is even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] early when one character asks "Where's ----?", referring to the Time Traveler by name.

* ForegoneConclusion: You know that the Time Traveler's going to come out okay (for now) because he's telling the narrator about it. Nobody asks DidYouDie

* FramingDevice: The narrator is a guest at the Time Traveler's party, who for all but the first two chapters and the final chapter is taking dictation from the Time Traveler.

* IWantMyJetpack: Probably the UrExample of the trope. The Time Traveler arrives in the distant year 802,701, expecting to see all those marvelous achievements of mankind, and what does he find? A {{scavenger world}} inhabited by tiny childish people who think he fell from the sun.
* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe: In chapter 7, the Time Traveler plans to take Weena back to his home time.

%%* KillTheCutie: Damn, [[spoiler:poor Weena...]]

* NiceDayDeadlyNight: The Time Traveler journeys several thousand years into the future, where he meets the Eloi, small dwarfish people that amble about the remains of civilization by day. At night, however, the Morlocks ascend from the depths of the Earth to harvest some of the Eloi. Though the Traveler is significantly larger than any Morlock, he's aware that he'd fare poorly against a ZergRush.

* NoNameGiven: The main character. Both theatrical films decided to change this. Also every Eloi other than Weena. Many other stories have given the Time Traveler different names: the author himself (unless he was the narrator), Bruce Clark Wildman ([[Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer Wold Newton universe]]), Adam Dane (''The Rook'' comic), Theophilus Tolliver (''[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who]]'' comic strip), and Robert James Pensley (''The Hertford Manuscript'' by Richard Cowper). The characters in the framing story are only referred to as "the Medical Man", "the Psychologist" etc, just as "the Traveller" is (and the narrator is never named either). The one exception is a poet referred to as Filby, but even that's stated to be the narrator disguising his real name. ''Literature/TheTimeShips'' follows this by having the Traveller refer to the framing-story narrator as "the Writer", although it's clearly meant to be [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis Wells himself]].

* SpellMyNameWithABlank The one time the Time Traveler is addressed by name, this trope is used.

* StarfishAliens: The hopping ball thing the Time Traveler briefly sees when he travels to the far future. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] not only in that it's native to Earth, but additionally in that it's also, by some modern definitions of taxonomy, ''Human.''

* TeleFrag: While building the machine, the Time Traveler considered that when he arrived he might be inside an object, causing a "far-reaching explosion." He decided it was a necessary risk.
* TheyCalledMeMad Several of the main character's colleagues scoff at his theories about time travel, which, of course, turn out to be true. In the end, though, only the Editor thinks the story is false-the other friends are implied to have believed him (the Doctor, for example, very reluctantly tells the Time Traveler is suffering from overwork, and accepts the flower the Traveler brings back as decent proof), but the Writer is very certain that the Traveler is telling the truth.

%%* TimeMachine

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: {{Played with}} briefly, when the Time Traveler nears the end of his story. His thoughts grow more rambling and he starts to wonder aloud if he's somehow imagined the whole experience, or if he's only imagining being home right now. He insists upon seeing the time machine again for himself and, once he does, he comes back to his senses.
%%* ToTheFutureAndBeyond

* UnreliableNarrator: Various hypotheses about the nature of the Eloi as the story progresses, with the narrator admitting that even the TheReveal might be just another wrong theory. Also, due to the FramingDevice, the narrator's spellings of the few samples of Eloi language that readers get are likely poor reflections of the actual phonology, as neither the Time Traveler nor the outer story's narrator is a linguist by profession.
* UrbanSegregation: The genesis of the Morlocks and the Eloi.
* {{Veganopia}}: Eloi eat the produce of an enormous garden, whose pests are at least locally extinct.

* WeWillHavePerfectHealthInTheFuture: Discussed extensively; the Time Traveler suspects that the people of the future, having conquered all disease, found no reason to develop any further technologically. Because of this, they degenerated into mindless beasts. This seems a valid theory at first, until he realizes with creeping horror that he ''also'' doesn't see any broken legs or other inevitable injuries, as well as no sign of older Eloi. It's because [[spoiler:the underground humans prey on the weak at night]].
* WeirdSun: Traveling millions of years into the future, Time Traveler notices the sun growing larger and more red, as well as slowing down on its way across the horizon, until finally setting still forever. He concludes that the Earth must have ceased to spin around its axis.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Discussed in-universe, as the Time Traveler explains that his theory of the Eloi and the Morlocks might as well be [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall just a result of his seeing everything from a political point of view]]. However, he calls it the most plausible one.
* WorkingClassHero: If the Traveler's theory is correct, [[spoiler: averted. The hypothetical evolutionary split between the Eloi and the Morlocks was started by the human social class system, wherein the lower classes became the beastly Morlocks.]]

* NoNameGiven: The main character. Both theatrical films decided to change this. Also every Eloi other than Weena. Many other stories have given the Time Traveler different names: the author himself (unless he was the narrator), Bruce Clark Wildman ([[Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer Wold Newton universe]]), Adam Dane (''The Rook'' comic), Theophilus Tolliver (''[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who]]'' comic strip), and Robert James Pensley (''The Hertford Manuscript'' by Richard Cowper).

* SocietyMarchesOn: Back when the book was written, English society could be mostly divided into two classes, the aristocracy and working class. H. G. Wells assumed this model would remain for over 800 thousand years, finally separating mankind into two different species. However, the twentieth century brought radical changes in society and today even the middle class has three sub-classes.

* OldShame: In 1931, Wells stated that the book was "a very undergraduate performance to its now mature writer, as he looks over it once more".

* MyOldShame: In 1931, Wells stated that the book was "a very undergraduate performance to its now mature writer, as he looks over it once more".

''[[http://pd.sparknotes.com/lit/timemachine/ The Time Machine: An Invention]]'' is a classic tale of TimeTravel, published in 1895, and one of the first to use a scientific mechanism to achieve it.[[note]]''Not'' the first as commonly believed. It was predated by Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau's ''El anacronópete'', published in 1887, as well as by Wells's own ''The Chronic Argonauts'', published in 1888.[[/note]] Where his predecessors had used [[AllJustADream visions]] to achieve the time travel, and only sent their protagonists TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, Creator/HGWells had his protagonist invent an actual time machine and travel into the far future.

''[[http://pd.sparknotes.com/lit/timemachine/ The Time Machine: An Invention]]'' is a classic tale of TimeTravel, published in 1895, and one of the first to use a scientific mechanism to achieve it[[note]]''Not'' the first as commonly believed. It was predated by Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau's ''El anacronópete'', published in 1887, as well as by Wells's own ''The Chronic Argonauts'', published in 1888.[[note]] Where his predecessors had used [[AllJustADream visions]] to achieve the time travel, and only sent their protagonists TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, Creator/HGWells had his protagonist invent an actual time machine and travel into the far future.

''[[http://pd.sparknotes.com/lit/timemachine/ The Time Machine: An Invention]]'' is a classic tale of TimeTravel, published in 1895, and one of the first to use a scientific mechanism to achieve it (Wells's own ''The Chronic Argonauts'' was published eight years earlier). Where his predecessors had used [[AllJustADream visions]] to achieve the time travel, and only sent their protagonists TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, Creator/HGWells had his protagonist invent an actual time machine and travel into the far future.

* FormerlySapientSpecies: Eventually, humans evolve to fit the inches of other animals like rabbits, after the Eloi and Morlocks are gone. By the time a new sapient race of crabs has emerged, humans have devolved into bouncing stomach creatures.

* BadassBookworm: While the protagonist admits he is getting on in years, he is still more than capable of fighting off the Morlocks. when pressed.

* TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace: Unlike some other time machines, this one doesn't "teleport". It rests on the ground while it travels through time, and the continental drift carries it.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Discussed in-universe, as the Time Traveler explains that his theory of the Eloi and the Morlocks might as well be just a result of his seeing everything from a political point of view. However, he calls it the most plausible one.

* StarfishAliens: The hopping ball thing the Time Traveler briefly sees when he travels to the far future. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] not only in that it's native to Earth, but also in that it's also, but some modern definitions of taxonomy, ''Human.''

* StarfishAliens: The hopping ball thing the Time Traveler briefly sees when he travels to the far future.

* AnAesop: Don't exploit the working class, or their descendants will eat your descendants (which reflects Wells' socialist views). Notably, both theatrical film versions (1960 and 2002) change the Aesop by way of changing the BackStory of the Eloi and the Morlocks. Specifically, the Aesop becomes anti-war in the 1960 film and environmentalist in the 2002 film.

''[[http://pd.sparknotes.com/lit/timemachine/ The Time Machine: An Invention]]'' is a classic tale of TimeTravel, published in 1895, and one of the first to use a scientific mechanism to achieve it (Wells' own ''The Chronic Argonauts'' was published eight years earlier). Where his predecessors had used [[AllJustADream visions]] to achieve the time travel, and only sent their protagonists TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, Creator/HGWells had his protagonist invent an actual time machine and travel into the far future.

The first thing he found there was the Eloi, peaceful child-like humanoids living an idyllic life. Once he's had enough time to muse on how they are the inevitable product of human evolution (for now humanity has technology it no longer needs intelligence) he discovers that the Eloi's apparent SugarBowl {{Utopia}} is closer to a [[CrapsaccharineWorld crapsaccharine]] {{Dystopia}}. BeneathTheEarth dwell Morlocks, bestial humanoids who prey on the Eloi.

The story's vision of the future reflects Wells's [[WriterOnBoard strong]] [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies socialist]] [[AuthorTract beliefs]]. There also has been an authorized sequel by Stephen Baxter released, called ''Literature/TheTimeShips''. It has been filmed four times (1949 (now [[MissingEpisode missing]]), [[Film/TheTimeMachine1960 1960]], [[Film/TheTimeMachine1978 1978]] and [[Film/TheTimeMachine2002 2002]]), and there are many references to it in subsequent TimeTravel stories.

* BeneathTheEarth: The Morlocks.

* DownerEnding: When he travels even further into the future he finds that even the Morlock civilization eventually collapsed, civilization never recovered, and the only human-descended animal he can find is a round hopping thing.
* {{Dystopia}}

* ElvesVersusDwarves: The Eloi and the Morlocks, of course.

* ForegoneConclusion: You know that the Time Traveler's going to come out okay (for now) because he's telling the narrator about it. Nobody asks DidYouDie.

* GentlemanAdventurer: The main character.

* KillTheCutie: Damn, [[spoiler:poor Weena...]]

* PopculturalOsmosis: Subsequent fictional time travelers such as [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]], [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] and [[Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure Bill and Ted]] are usually better remembered than this guy. Having ''names'' probably helps.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:The Eloi aren't the rulers of the world - they're the cattle.]]

* TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace Unlike some other time machines, this one doesn't "teleport". It rests on the ground while it travels through time, and the continental drift carries it.
* TimeMachine (the original)
* TimeTravel

* ToTheFutureAndBeyond

* NoNameGiven: The main character. Both theatrical films decided to change this. Also every Eloi other than Weena. Many other fictions has given the Time Traveler different names: the author himself (unless he was the narrator), Bruce Clark Wildman ([[Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer Wold Newton universe]]), Adam Dane (''The Rook'' comic), Theophilus Tolliver (''[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who]]'' comic strip), and Robert James Pensley (''The Hertford Manuscript'' by Richard Cowper).

The story's vision of the future reflects Wells's [[WriterOnBoard strong]] [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies socialist]] [[AuthorTract beliefs]]. There also has been an authorized sequel by Stephen Baxter released, called ''Literature/TheTimeShips''. It has been filmed four times (1949 (now [[MissingEpisode missing]]), [[Film/TheTimeMachine1960 1960]], 1978 and [[Film/TheTimeMachine2002 2002]]), and there are many references to it in subsequent TimeTravel stories.

* NoNameGiven: The main character-both theatrical films decided to change this. Also every Eloi other than Weena.
** Many other fictions has given the Time Traveler different names: the author himself (unless he was the narrator), Bruce Clark Wildman ([[Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer Wold Newton universe]]), Adam Dane (''The Rook'' comic), Theophilus Tolliver (''[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who]]'' comic strip), and Robert James Pensley (''The Hertford Manuscript'' by Richard Cowper).

For the ChooseYourOwnAdventure series, see Literature/TimeMachineSeries.

!!This book provides examples of: