The Time Machine by H.G. Wells: Goodreads Review

Rereading The Time Machine was not only a pleasure, but haunting and prescient. Written more than a hundred years ago, the Time Traveler finds himself in a future world where the workers (Morlocks) and upper-class citizens of leisure (the Eloi) have virtually no contact. It is our world in the extreme, where the gulf between the rich and poor is so wide that the two peoples have evolved into different races — and neither for the better. The Eloi have everything done for them by the workers living underground. As a consequence, they have become small, weak, and dumb.

I could not help thinking about the effect modern technology is having on us today. The way iPhones finish our text messages, scanning machines tally the cost of our daily purchases, and cars will soon drive themselves, to cite just a few examples. H.G. Wells may not have known about smart phones, “scan and go” technology, or driverless cars, but he was spot on when it comes to predicting what happens to humans when they are left without work and no longer challenged. And the Morlock laborers have it no better. They have lost their humanity, being forced to live in the dark underworld where they resort to cannibalism (eating the Eloi). This, in one form or another, may be our plight if we don’t act soon to address the economic disparity between the rich and the poor. I highly recommend this classic novella given its relevance today.