The Time Machine
Uploaded by mascara_lifter on Mar 17, 2001
As fabled as fairies and dryads, only slightly more scientific, the imaginary device referred to as the “time machine” has gained many prospective engineers over the years. Young boys ponder thoughts of returning to Jurassic times in a time machine of their own, while little girls dream of princesses in castles. Even as we grow older, we fancy that such an appliance might help us revoke that angry diatribe towards our boss, or take us back to yesterday when we bought that lotto ticket. Certainly, the contraption has procured a wonderful spot on our list of “Things I Wish Bill Gates Would Hurry Up And Design.” But who exactly was it that first conjured up such an idea? Most definitely not Bill Gates. In the late 1800s, H.G.Wells entertained many, as well as making a reputation for himself in the writing business, when he composed his “extraordinary voyage” The Time Machine. The Time Machine was perhaps the first book that allowed the world to accept the thesis that seeing is not believing.
Our “voyage” begins much like any other book of the 1800s, with many respectable people gathered together in a drawing room. Not only is it redundant, but it is the forecast of a positively boring book. However, we must remember that just as weather forecasts have a way of being uncannily incorrect, book forecasts are commonly wrong as well. There is a psychologist, a medical man, a very young man, Filby, a provincial mayor, our narrator, and the Time Traveller himself. The group listens rather skeptically as the Time Traveller attempts to convince them of the validity of such trekking, even when he presents them with a miniature replica of the time machine he claims to have built for himself in the laboratory. When the “mini-machine” seems to disappear in mid air, they pass it off as a clever party trick. However, the resolute scientist invites the group back for a second dinner party the following week where he hopes the true device will be completed.
The following week, the assemblage returns only to find that their host is absent. Mid-way through the main course, the Time Traveller appears, looking rugged and distressed. After shoveling the entrée into his mouth in a manner very much resembling a feasting lion, he sits to tell his story. The group listens intently as he divulges the details of his experience traveling to the...