The Time Machine by H.G Wells is a pessimistic, almost brutalist, dystopia. It envisions a future where society is divided into two primary species – the lazy Eloi whose abundant privileges have rendered them completely dumb, almost like a hive-mind of bots, and the Morlocks, who are dexterous savages, waiting in the dark to capture and eat the Eloi.

The clear anti-capitalist themes of this story make a decent argument for “The Time Machine” to be considered principally a work of political Fiction, rather than one of science fiction.

Wells describes the Eloi life to be one with “no signs of struggle, neither social nor economic struggle”. This causes the Eloi to be so primitive in its language and childlike in its behavior. While not a revolutionary idea, I certainly feel this to be true. As the gap between rich and poor widens, the ignorance of the top 1 percent, while enviable, cannot be fruitful, for them or for the rest of the world. On the other hand, I felt the caveman-like representation of the Morlocks was slightly flawed. Given the growing decay of intelligence and tact of the Eloi, a Morlock revolution should have transpired well before the Time traveler’s visit. However, I thought the idea that Morlocks eat the rich Eloi for sustenance is a great literal representation of “Eat the rich” and cements the anti-capitalist tropes of the book.

Despite the mostly faultless political commentary, the science is a little iffy. But keeping in mind the scarce access to scientific knowledge in the 1800s, It was easy to look past it.

This classic is a great stepping stone to science fiction. It is short, crisp and engaging. Highly recommend!