Omar Azam
Two Cultures Seminar
1992
"The Time Machine: Wells's life-long writing experiment"
Although H.G. Wells did not literally spend his whole life writing The Time Machine, the years he spent rewriting and editing the story span almost forty years (1886-1924). Aside from just lengthening his story and adding details, H.G. Wells changed his tone and his writing style, and the message that is felt after reading each version is distinct. One noticeable stylistic change through time is is Wells's affinity for creative writing. Wells's style became, through subsequent writings, more of a creative writer's, and less of a scientist's, trying to prove his points and the theoretical possibility of his plot by means of the scientific method. Whereas the National Observer spends much of its time in theoretical hypotheses as to the means and the technology of time travel, the final version of The Time Machine is concerned more with what the Time Traveler sees, and his observations, which are not always scientific. In the final version, a certain sense of mystery lingers, and the story is given a more romantic (unsure, dreamy, and fictional in tone), a more literary mood. Other ways in which Wells manifests his change through the years are through his labeling of characters and objects in the story, and through his commentary regarding the human condition that is injected into the story. All in all, H.G. Wells changed through those forty years, and by 1924, The Chronic Argonauts was just a forgotten dream.
One early version of The Time Machine isThe National Observer Time Machine. In this version (1894), the form makes it obvious that the writer is more of a scientist than a creative writer. For example, the theorization of time travel is given a third of the pages of the story, (154-160) as if the explanation for time travel is as important as what the Time Traveler sees through it. The form of theNational Observer is tighter, and less imaginitive. Although Wells was limited in space due to the confinements of periodical publications, there is still an unmistakeable flavor resembling that of an article from a scientific journal. The National Observer's mood is that of an experiment; at every point of narration, the Time Traveler is stopped, questioned, and then is approved by the audience. The final version of The Time Machine is a running, literary-type narrative in which as much importance is given to the hypothesis, trial, and proof method as is given to the imaginative narration.
Another contrast in form has to do with organization. The National Observer has distinct sections, with titles to each section, as if the story was a documented experiment. The Time Machine is more free-form, and the chapters are given no titles. Finally, Wells gives his National Observer an ending like a conclusion from an experiment: postulations and conclusions are drawn from the Inventor's journey, and then he goes upstairs to look after his child. Moreover, the ending of the National Observer is a discussion of post-humanoid earth: what will become of the sun, the planets, etc. In The Time Machine, Wells becomes more lyrical. Yes, he ends his tale with postulations, but they are about mankind and his whims of technology and his inherent tenderness of heart. And when the Time Traveler discusses earth and its fate in the solar system, he speculates about the crab monsters, and the ultimate fate of humans and other animals.
The way in which Wells labels characters and objects plays a very important part in the stories. By just looking at the titles, The Chronic Argonauts is almost incomprehensible because it is so scientific. The Time Machine is simple, creative, and imaginative. In The Argonauts, the time travelers are given names; Wells realizes soon that a much more magical effect will be derived from an anonymous narrator, which he provides in the National Observer and The Time Machine. Leaving the narrator nameless is more mysterious, which Wells probably didnŐt like in his earlier years; names imply existence and factuality, a condition Wells did not want to commit himself to when he was a scientist. Within the successive stories, Wells also becomes more fantastic. Names like "The Palace of Green Porcelain" are much too abstract for Wells in his earlier years. In the National Observer, Wells refrains from naming things, possibly because this will make the story seem fictional, an effect he doesnŐt want in the midst of this pseudo-scientific account. Furthermore, the naming of things implies knowledge about them. Although the Time Traveller has never heard anyone proclaim "The Palace of Green Porcelain," he uses his liberty and imagination, rights freely exercised in creative writing but no so liberally in scientific writing.
Finally, Wells's opinions of mankind, and the importance he places on them, change through time. In the earlier stories, the future is simply bad, and this is just a fact we have to live with. By The Time Machine, Wells's view of humanity has changed, and he is more optimistic about the souls of human beings, no matter how much their biology may change; we see this through the addition of Weena to the story. His constant references to her and her flowers are symbols of the fact that humanity may become twisted, may bifurcate, but "gratitude and a mutual tenderness" will live on. (Weena is also an example of the creative writing-side of Wells).
In conclusion, we can see that Wells became more sympathetic or at least more devoted to the idea of human deevolution. Even towards his narrator and his Time Traveler his opinions change. The narrator is more sensitive in The Time Machine , and draws his own conclusions from the Traveler's story. And the Philosophical inventor of the National Observer, who is almost a tape player, becomes the Time Traveler, who is clumsy at times, romantic at times, and is not afraid of being wrong.
Copyright 2003 Omar Azam