Herbert George Wells

1. Herbert George Wells By: Kelsey Ulrich

2. Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) • Herbert George Wells was born in the village of Bromley, Kent, England on the date of September 21, 1866. He was raised in a working class society by his mother, a former lady’s maid, and his father, a professional cricket player. Unfortunately for Wells, his father had broken a leg. His father’s unemployment left the boy to find a place in the working society as an apprenticed draper along with his other brothers. In his early childhood, Wells found a fondness for literature, which led him to a job as a teacher’s assistant in a grammar school. Education suited him well, and in 1884 he obtained a scholarship to study biology in the Normal School of Science in England.Wells’ interest in education faltered, so he left without obtaining his degree in 1887. He taught as a teacher for four years and later earned his degree in 1890. Herbert settled down in London in England and married his cousin Isabel and continued his teaching at a local college. He later divorced his wife and married one of his brightest students by the name of Amy Catherine in 1895. In 1901, the couple had their first son, George Phillip.

3. Starting in 1893, Wells fully devoted himself to a career of writing. He established himself as a science fiction novelist when his first novel, The Time Machine, was published in 1895. The book was a success, and his following famous novels, including The Island of Dr. Moreau(1896),The Invisible Man(1897), and The War of the Worlds(1898), forever embedded H. G. Wells into the genre of science fiction. Wells did however write many short stories, fiction, and non-fiction essays for the duration of his life. Most of his writings actually espoused his views on humanity, the world itself, and society.Wells had a growing passion for the concern of society and in 1903, joined the Fabian Society, a socialist group located in England. He resigned however in 1908 over conflicting viewpoints about the society. Wells still stayed active in the socialist campaign, and expressed his desire for a society run by well-educated and humanistic people in his novel A Modern Utopia (1905). Wells was appalled by WWI and expressed his opinion that the world would be saved by education, not revolution, in his novel The Outline of History. The outbreak of WWII also affected Wells enough to write extensively about the need to use the war as a means to establish a new, rational world. His life was ended on August 13, 1946, in London; right after his novel Mind at the End of Its Tethers (1945) was published. Ironically enough, his last novel discussed his views on the prospects of the world’s future, which were undoubtedly held with a pessimistic perspective. 

4. Personal Review of The Time Machine • H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine was almost certainly the first work of fiction to deal with the concept of time travel. Not only has the story hugely affected science fiction, but it may also have given physicists reason to think in more than three dimensions. Wells introduces the concept of time as the fourth dimension at the beginning of this novella and from there he also goes on to discuss the idea of the Earth as a dying planet. 

5. The machine itself is the vaguest of mechanical assumptions; a thing of ivory, quartz, nickel and brass that quite illogically carries its rider into an existing past or future. We accept the machine as a literary device to give an air of probability to the essential thing, the experience; and forget the means in the effect. The criterion of the prophecy in this case is influenced by the theory of "natural selection." Mr. Wells' vision of the "Sunset of Mankind" was of men so nearly adapted to their environment that the need to struggle, with the corollary of the extermination of the unfit, had practically ceased. Humanity had become differentiated into two races, both recessive: one, the Eloi, a race of childlike, simple, delicate creatures living on the surface of a kindly earth; the other, the Morlocks, a more active but debased race, of bestial habits, who lived underground and preyed cannibalistically on the surface-dwellers, who they helped to preserve, as a man may preserve game. The Eloi, according to the hypothesis of the Time Traveller, are the descendents of the leisured classes; the Morlocks of the workers. . . .All this is in the year 802,701 A.D.

6. Many of the themes brought up in The Time Machine are still perfectly valid 116 years later. The disparity between the beautiful, leisured but uncaring race, the Eloi, and the mechanically inventive but brutal Morlock could be easily said to parallel the disparity between art and commerce in today’s world. And, of course, with the climate change and extinction scenarios currently being played out, the thought of a dying world is never too far removed from any educated 21st century person. • I’m a big fan of Wells’ work, especially the brilliant fantasy of The Time Machine. The language of the novel is a little stilted, but still enjoyable. As a sci-fi fan myself, I have to look back at the other novels I have read over the years that have used Wells’ ideas and taken them further. Just about every sci-fi novel uses the concept of time travel, even if only by projecting the story into a future. With his depiction of the society of Eloi and Morlock as a dimorphic racial product of humanity, Wells also set the scene for many fantasy tales, although fantasy obviously takes in many more influences than strange new worlds. This is a must read book if you are into the science fiction genre!

7. Personal Review of The Invisible Man • One of Wells' most famous works, The Invisible Man is a perfect example of the author's penchant for concise science fiction. Weighing in at less than 140 pages is an inconceivable length for today's purveyors of fiction. This novel hits the ground running with Griffin's arrival at Iping, and maintains its frenetic pace right up to the final chapter; the author's easy writing style a joy to behold. Characterization is kept to a workable bare minimum here, and much of Griffin's history must be inferred from brief snippets of illuminating dialogue.

8. Further into the novel Griffin attempts to remind Kemp of his appearance at their old University: '...a younger student, almost an albino, six feet high, and broad, with a pink and white face and red eyes...' This is one of my favorite passages because the reader can get a glimpse of perhaps the true reason behind Griffin's obsession with invisibility. What better way to silence those cruel snickers than to be able to vanish completely? In a society that abhors and rejects physical difference, the ultimate form on anonymity is invisibility. Of course, the brutal irony here is that in this state of ultimate anonymity, Griffin becomes even more different, and therefore more abhorrent, to those that surround him. Instead of finding peaceful safe refuge from intolerance and prejudice in Iping, he becomes an even bigger 'monster' than the towering, crimson-eyed albino ever was.

9. Ultimately the power of invisibility proves to be entirely illusory. In order to maintain an invisible state, Griffin must walk naked, cold and thoroughly miserable beneath the harsh elements. He cannot eat without fear of discovery, and whilst his body arrests no light, the tracks he leaves on the ground can be followed by even the youngest of children. Mocked by his one true hope for escape, is it any wonder why Griffin descends into utter madness, eventually erupting into a paroxysm of rage at society, it's very presence utter torment? Even in death, Griffin can find no safe-haven from mankind's prejudice, the seething mob delivering one final, crushing indignity: 'Cover his face! For Gawd's sake cover that face!'At one moment a biting satire on bucolic life, at another, a crushing indictment on man's inhumanity, The Invisible Man is science fiction at its finest. This is another one of H. G. Wells' novels that I highly recommend.

10. Circumlocution in The Time Machine and The Invisible Man • Definition: Circumlocution is a form of writing where the writer uses exaggeratedly long and complex sentences in order to convey a meaning that could have otherwise been conveyed through a shorter, much simpler sentence. Circumlocution involves stating an idea or a view in an indirect manner that leaves the reader guessing and grasping at the actual meaning. • Wells uses circumlocution in many of his works. It is a natural occurrence for 19th Century novelists.

11. Satire in The Time Machine • Definition: The use of satire in literature refers to the practice of making fun of a human weakness or character flaw. The use of satire is often inclusive of a need or decision of correcting or bettering the character that is on the receiving end of the satire. In general, even though satire might be humorous and may “make fun”, its purpose is not to entertain and amuse but actually to derive a reaction of contempt from the reader. • Wells uses this literary device in the novel when writing about the two societies of the future, the Eloi and the Morlocks, and indirectly relating them to the lower and upper class societies of his time.

12. Motif in The Invisible Man • Definition: The literary device ‘motif’ is any element, subject, idea or concept that is constantly present through the entire body of literature. Using a motif refers to the repetition of a specific theme dominating the literary work. Motifs are very noticeable and play a significant role in defining the nature of the story, the course of events and the very fabric of the literary piece. • Wells uses the motif of blindness throughout the entirety of the novel. The narrator repeatedly notes that people’s inability to see what they wish not to see—their inability to see that which their prejudice doesn’t allow them to see—has forced Griffin into a life of effective invisibility.

13. Works Cited • "Circumlocution." Literary Devices| Literary Terms. LiteraryDevices, 2010. Web. <http://literary-devices.com/content/circumlocution>. • “Satire." Literary Devices| Literary Terms. LiteraryDevices, 2010. Web. <http://literary-devices.com/content/circumlocution>. • “Motif." Literary Devices| Literary Terms. LiteraryDevices, 2010. Web. <http://literary-devices.com/content/circumlocution>.