The Morlocks were the masters of the land and these used to be the exploited labourers, they were the mine and factory workers who worked in appalling dark conditions. The Morlocks feed off of the Eloi which is a class of cannibalism, they have total control over the Eloi which is totally the opposite to when Wells wrote this book, the Morlocks, the workers, had no say in what went on all they were there to do was to work hard in appalling conditions. The Morlocks are ugly looking creatures and work underground in dark surroundings, they are subterranean beings and they have totally adapted to this environment, in the book Wells describes them as ‘small, white moving creatures with large bright eyes’ he says it looked like a ‘human spider.’ The Morlcoks eat the Eloi as that is there only source of food ‘ Clearly, at some time in the Long Ago of human decay the Morlocks food had run short. Possibly they had lived on rats and such-like vermin. Even now man is far less discriminating and exclusive in his food than he was far less than any monkey.’ The Morlocks supplied the Eloi with fresh grown fruit and vegetables but this was simply to fatten up the Eloi for a better meal ‘These Eloi were mere fatted cattle, which the ant-like Morlocks preserved and preyed upon- probably saw to the breeding of.’
The world in which the time traveller arrives is the year of 802,701, a lot of things in this world are different to that of the time travellers time, the first thing he notices is that how clean and tidy everything is, ‘The air was free from gnats, the earth fro weeds or fungi; every where were fruits and sweet and delightful flowers; brilliant butterflies flew hither and thither’ another thing that was different is that this world was free from disease.’ When the traveller sees the people of this world, the Eloi, he notices how relaxed they are and how they haven’t got a care in the world about anything, ‘ Social triumphs too, had been effected. I saw a man- kind housed in splendid shelters, gloriously clothed, and as yet I had found them engaged in no toil. There was no signs of struggle, neither social nor economical struggle.’ He also notices how the shops and traffic had gone ‘The shop, the advertisement, traffic, all that commerce which constitutes the body of our world, was gone.’ The traveller was baffled about how, a world can change into something as laid back as this, as the time he came from it was all rush and tare about, compared to this laid back manner. So in the end, above ground you’ve got the Haves, pursuing pleasure and comfort and beauty, and below ground the Have-nots, the workers getting continually adapted to the conditions of their labour.
In the Time Machine the world has evolved into two distinct species, the Eloi, who are the over grounders who are contented yet indolent but are they physically weak and inattentive, they are like children compared to that of the Morlocks, who are a subterranean race of cannibals, hard working, unable to see well in the daylight, but are perfectly adapted to the dark and their underground existence.
Wells thought this might happen because he found that the relationship between the ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have- nots’ was a dangerous one, he realised that as time went by, the ‘Haves’ would depend, increasingly, upon the ‘Have-nots’ for survival, which is why Wells divided the new world up into two totally different species, he also changed the rolls that they had in life, the Eloi who were the hard workers in Well’s time and the Morlocks who were the aristocracy in Well’s time.
There are several changes that were made to the film, these happenings did not occur in the book. In addition to stopping in the year 802,701, the time traveller also stops on three other occasions, he first stops in 1917, during World War I, Wells could not of predicted this war, but the makers of the film understandably decided that it was a too bigger event to overlook, he secondly stops in 1940, during World War II, when the time traveller steps out of his machine he assumes that the War with Germany is still taking place, but then later realises that there has been a peace time between the two countries. His third and final stop before 802,701, is probably the most significant feature of the whole film and it reveals the most about the mood in Britain at the time of making this film, the traveller stops on August 18th 1966, and the world is involved in atomic warfare, ‘Atomic satellites are zeroing in,’ and the time traveller, initially is impressed by the ‘gigantic strides that mankind has made’ is devastated to see the catastrophic effects of atomic war, ‘The labours of centuries gone, in an instant.’
The Time Machine is about a man who is a scientist and he wants to see what the future holds for humans, he builds a time machine. The time traveller stops off at various different points in the future but he ends up in the year 802,701 where he finds that the way of life is extremely different, he finds out that there is two distinct species, the Eloi and the Morlocks. He sees how the Eloi are treated as food for the Morlocks and how the Eloi have a life of luxury on the surface whereas the Morlocks are the hard workers working the machines underneath the ground. The time traveller is disgusted with what he sees and is devastated that this is how humans will live in the future, the time traveller stays and helps the Eloi defeat the Morlocks, as he doesn’t like the way things work in this life.
