Time Machine Book REport
H.G. Wells and the Shape of Things to Come Heat rays destroying London, time machines sending people far ahead into the future, and men who can't even be seen: these are all things that H.G. Wells uses in his science-fiction novels. His imagination allows the reader to immerse themselves in the book and do, in their mind, what the characters are doing. Wells' books were, in part, based on real-life happenings. War of the Worlds was conjured up in his mind because of the close position of Mars to Earth in 1894. Life on Mars was suspected and he played up to that curiosity of the people. His views of the future were outrageous and original. The people loved this, which is why he was so popular. John Middleton Murray has described Wells as "the last prophet of bourgeois Europe." He was also Europe's first futurologist. His writing style has been compared with a combination of Charles Darwin and Mary Shelly. Wells coined the phrase "the shape of things to come" and warned people of the dangers of the future in the literature that he wrote. Wells' prophecy of "the shape of things to come" is accomplished in The Time Machine. His ideas about the future are surely detrimental. As the Time Traveler is standing on the shore of a dead sea,
he thinks to himself, I cannot convey the sense of abominable desolation that hung over the world. The red eastern sky, the northward blackness, the salt Dead Sea, the stony beach crawling with these foul, slow-stirring monsters, the uniform poisonous-looking green of the lichenous plants, the thin air that hurt one's lungs; all contributed to an appalling effect (69). This scene is one of complete desolation and despair. He had spent all his time making the time machine to see the wonderful advances in technology, knowledge, and intellect. Instead he finds only decay and degeneration. Wells also had ideas of the people of the future. The creatures he describes were ". . . a fragile thing out of futurity. Exquisite creatures with a graceful gentleness, a certain childlike ease" (20). He suggests the deterioration of the human race in this passage. Is this the future of the human race? Diminishing stature of people, followed by extinction, on a dying planet. Wells' main purpose in writing The Time Machine was to give a grim indication that without major social reform, the future for humanity will not be too bright. He thought what we do now is the most important thing to the future of our world. I his eyes, there will be no second chances to correct what goes on now. Wells' prophecy of the future continues in his novel, The War of the Worlds. It was written in response to several historical events about future events. One of the major events was the unification of Germany. It led to many books about war in Europe. Another factor in the production of this novel was the closeness of Mars to Earth in 1894. It led to much discussion about life on the foreign planet. Wells, the "future prophet," predicted such things as tan
Some common words found in the essay are:
Dead Sea, Dr Moreau, War Worlds--gas, Mary Shelly, Invisible Wells', Orson Welles, Speaking Selenities, Shape Heat, War Worlds, Moon Selenities, war worlds, human race, mars earth 1894, war europe, wells' prophecy, dr moreau, dead sea, earth 1894, mars earth, heat ray, imagination allows,
Approximate Word count = 1165
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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