The Time Machine
by H.G. Wells
The Time Machine is a book by H. G. Wells, first published in 1895
The book’s protagonist is an amateur inventor or scientist living in London identified simply as The Time Traveller. Having demonstrated to friends using a miniature model that time is a fourth dimension, and that a suitable apparatus can move back and forth in this fourth dimension, he completes the building of a larger machine capable of carrying himself. He then immediately sets off on a journey into the future.
The Time Traveller details the experience of time travel and the evolution of his surroundings as he moves through time. While travelling through time, his machine allows him to observe the changes of the outside world in fast motion. He observes the sun and moon traversing the sky and the changes to the buildings and landscape around him as he travels through time. His machine produces a sense of disorientation to its occupant, and a blurring or faintness of the surroundings outside the machine.
Source: Wells, H. G. (1895). The Time Machine. London, England: William Heinemann.
- Chapter 1
- The Time Traveller gives a lecture on the fourth dimension, while showing the group his an amazing new invention.
- Chapter 2
- The guests return to the Time Traveller's home a week later for dinner and an unexpected tale of adventure from the future.
- Chapter 3
- The Time Traveller experiments with his new invention, starting slowly then accelerating rapidly into the future.
- Chapter 4
- The Time Traveller encounters a group of strange creatures and explores the world of the future.
- Chapter 5
- The Time Traveller, concerned with the disappearance of the time machine, searches frantically for his invention. The Time Traveller inquires about the sphinx statue, and reconsiders his previous theories. Through a heroic act, the Time Traveller makes a friend. The Time Traveller encounters another creature from the future.
- Chapter 6
- In hopes of recovering his machine, the Time Traveller enters the underground world of the Morlocks.
- Chapter 7
- The Time Traveller begins to understand the relationship between the Morlocks and the Eloi. With nightfall approaching, the Time Traveller looks for a safe place to rest.
- Chapter 8
- Weena and the Time Traveller journey into the Palace of Green Porcelain.
- Chapter 9
- The Time Traveller awakens to find himself surrounded.
- Chapter 10
- The Time Traveller finds the machine, barely escaping with his life.
- Chapter 11
- The Time Traveller travels far in to the future, observing the extreme changes of the planet.
- Chapter 12
- The Time Traveller returns to the present to tell his dinner guests of his amazing adventures. The next day the narrator finds the Time Traveller preparing for another journey through time.
- Epilogue
- The narrator ponders the many possible fates of the Time Traveller.
- Year Published: 1895
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: England
-
Readability:
- Flesch–Kincaid Level: 8.5
- Word Count: 33,163
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Keywords: 19th century literature, destiny, fate, fourth dimension, time travel