Mira Lee

English 12B
Rogers
May 8, 2015
A15 Memorable Character Review
The classic novel The Time Machine by H.G. Wells explores the idea of moving
forward and backward in time through the main character of the Time Traveler. There are very
few characters in this novel, and the Time Traveler is certainly the most memorable, as the reader
sees him change over the course of the novel through his adventures and travails. At the
beginning of the novel, the Time Traveler is described as an intelligent man, but one who may
play tricks or pranks on his guests. He seems to be a charming and clever man, who is also
arrogant and enjoys being the center of attention. The Time Traveler entertains other men of
social standing such as a doctor, a psychologist, the mayor, at his home at dinner parties where
he debates ideas such as the concept of moving about in the fourth dimension, which is time.
The Time Traveler has invented a machine that he explains will allow one to move
forward and back in time. He travels far into the future and is shocked by the society and people
he sees. When he returns and tells his guests of his trip, it is evident that the Time Traveler has
had to step outside of his usual mode of behavior. The Traveler saves and befriends a creature in
the future named Weema of the Eloi people. He does not respect her intellect, as he believes that
she thinks like a five year-old child. Still he treats her kindly, cares for her, and stays with her in
the unfamiliar new place. The Time Traveler meets another group, the Morlocks who are strange
and fearsome. In this new environment, so different from the world he lives in, the Time Traveler

demonstrates that he is a great adventurer, someone who is brave and persists in his goal of
finding his time machine and returning home.
By the time he returns home, dirty and disheveled, the time traveler faces skeptical guests
when he relates his stories of the future. His story seems so fantastic, and the guests are used to
the Time Travelers pranks, so they do not believe what he is telling them, since he has no
evidence. When the Time Traveler ventured further in the future, beyond the time of the Eloi and
Morlocks, he sees a world that does not have human life and seems desolate. At the beginning of
the story, I did not much approve of the Time Traveler, as I saw him as a charming, intelligent
man who liked to hear himself talk. Through the course of the story, the Time Traveler
demonstrated courage and persistence. These are the qualities that I admired most about the Time
Traveler. The people and places he encountered in his travels were scary, yet he did not give up,
and searched until he recovered his time machine and retuned home.
At the end of The Time Machine, the Time Traveler returns to his time machine, taking
a small camera and a knapsack with him, possibly wanting to take photos to prove what he has
seen. Instead of this ending there are other possible ending. For example, the Time Traveler
believes in his time machine and its ability to go back and forth in time. He improves the
controls of the machine, so that he can more easily move forward or backward into specific dates
and events. The Time Traveler invites others to accompany him on his travels. He begins to
examine the events that occur in the future and how they contribute to the course of the future.
The Time Traveler speaks to the doctor, the psychologist, and the mayor about the important
events that determine the course of the future.
At the dinner parties at his home the discussion about the Time Travelers trips change.
He and his guests talk about events that change could change the future, that maintain a society

where humans and society continues to grow and prosper. They have already seen that far into
the future there is no human life. The Time Traveler and his guests must decide if they should
build additional time machines. They chart important events that they can change that will
influence future events. They debate whether to move forward, with some agreeing and others
not. Despite their disagreement, the story ends with a time machine taking off and attempting to
change the course of a future event.