The Time Machine Essay Example for Free

The Time Machine Essay The narrator recounts the explanation of two difficult ideas by a man he refers to as the Time Traveller to an after-dinner group. The group includes a Psychologist, a Medical Man, a Provincial Mayor, and a few other men. The Time Traveller shows them a smaller prototype of the time machine, and when he pulls a lever, it disappearsinto the future, he claims. At the next weeks dinner, the Time Traveller comes in midway through the meal, haggard and limping. He tells them of his eight days of time travel. He uses the Time Machine that morning and speeds forward through time. The Time Machine lands in a garden and the Time Traveller sees a statue of a White Sphinx and he notices robed figures in a nearby house who are watching him. One approaches him and speaks in a strange tongue. When the creatures feel the Time Machine, the Time Traveller adjusts the levers to render it inoperable. The Time Traveller is stunned to think these creatures from 802,701 AD could be fools. The creatures bring him to a huge nearby building, where they invite him to devour exotic fruit with them. At first, he explains, he was confused by the strange fruits and flowers he saw, but he later came to understand their significance. The Time Traveller tries to learn the creatures language, but they soon lose interest in teaching him. He marvels at their laziness and lack of curiosity. He goes outside and is confused by the repositioning of the worldthe Thames River has shifted more than a mile. As he explores and sees only huge buildings, he arrives at a conclusion: Communism. However, he explains he was later to find out that his initial assumptions were incorrect. He believes he has happened upon the end of humanity. He also believes their population checks have possibly been too effective, accounting for the abandoned ruins. However, he admits, his explanation turned out to be wrong. The full moon comes out, the creatures go into buildings, and the Time Traveller finds someplace to sleep. When he reaches the garden of the White Sphinx, he finds the Time Machine is missing. Fortunately, without the levers, the Time Machine is inoperable. The next day he finds hints that the machine was dragged into the hollow bronze pedestal under the White Sphinx. However, he does not know how to open the pedestal, and when he indicates to some of the creatures that he wishes to open it, they seem deeply offended and leave. Over the ext couple of days, the Time Traveller learns some more of the creatures simple language and tries to forget about his missing Time Machine until he has gained enough knowledge to recover it. The deep, circular wells continue to puzzle him, as does the vacuum they produce and the thudding sound from below. He connects the presence of the wells with the tall towers spread about and concludes t hat there is a subterranean ventilation system, an idea that will prove to be wrong. He believes the society is run by automatic organization. On his third day, the Time Traveller saves a young female creature from drowning in the shallow river. Her name is Weena and she soon follows him around like a puppy, giving him flowers, and grows distressed when she cannot keep up with his explorations and is left behind. The Time Traveller learns that her only fear is of the dark, and that after dark, the creatures sleep only inside in groups. Still, the Time Traveller continues to sleep away from the groups, eventually with Weena. The Time Traveller resumes talking about the night before he rescued Weena. He awakes at dawn, and twice sees white, ape-like creatures running alone up a hill, and once sees several of them carrying a dark body. Once the sun rises, he sees them no more. On his fourth morning, while seeking shelter from the heat in one of the ruins, the Time Traveller finds a dark, narrow gallery. Entering it, he comes across a pair of eyes watching him in the darkness. A small, white ape-like creature then runs behind him in the sunlit space. He follows it into a second ruin where he finds a well. Lighting a match, he peers inside it and sees the creature climbing down metal foot and hand rests on the wall. The Time Traveller realizes that man has evolved into two distinct animals, the Upperworld creatures and the nocturnal ones below. He comes up with a new theory of how the world operates: the new species he has found are subterranean and live in tunnels ventilated by the towers and wells, and work to ensure the functioning of the Upperworld. He believes the human race has split as a result of the widening gap between the Capitalist and the Labourer, and that the poor have been increasingly relegated to underground areas. The lack of interaction between the poor workers and the rich has cut down interbreeding and created two distinct species who have adapted to their own environments. The Time Traveller is not sure if this is the correct explanation, but it seems the most plausible. He wonders why the Morlocksthe name of the Underworld creatureshave taken his Time Machine, and why the Eloithe Upperworld creaturescannot return it to him, if they are the masters, and why they are afraid of the dark. Weena cries when he asks her these questions. The Time Traveller cannot muster the courage to go underground and confront the Morlocks about his stolen Time Machine. Instead, he explores the Upperworld more, one day happening upon a huge green structure which he calls the Palace of Green Porcelain. Finally he descends into the well, greatly distressing Weena. He rests in a tunnel inside it, and is woken by three Morlocks. They flee when he lights a match, and the Time Traveller cannot communicate with them, as they speak a different language from the Eloi. He finds his way into a large, dark, machine-filled cavern where the Morlocks eat meat. Soon the Morlocks grope him. He shouts at them, then lights a succession of matches as he escapes. The Time Traveller instantly despises the Morlocks. As the moon wanes and the nights have longer periods of darkness, Weena talks about the Dark Nights. The Time Traveller begins to understand why the Eloi fear the darkness, though he does not know what kind of foul villainy the Morlocks practice at night. He revises his hypothesis: while the Eloi and Morlocks may have once had a master-slave relationship, now the Morlocks are growing in power while the Eloi are fearful. The Time Traveller decides to defend himself against the Morlocks. First he must find weapons and a safe place to sleep. The only place he can think of is the Palace of Green Porcelain. He starts off the long trek with Weena, and comes up with a new theory about the Morlocks: they breed the Eloi like cattle for food. He sympathizes with the plight of the Eloi. The Time Traveller decides to use a torch as a weapon against the Morlocks, and then acquire some kind of battering-ram to break open the pedestal under the White Sphinx, where he imagines the Time Machine is still kept. He also plans to bring Weena back to his own time. The Palace of Green Porcelain turns out to be a ruined museum with objects from the Time Travellers time and beyond. The Time Traveller finds an enormous room with huge, strange machines, and wonders if he can use them against the Morlocks. He notices that the gallery slopes downward into darkness. When he hears noises in the darkness similar to those from the well, he breaks off the lever of a machine. He restrains his desire to kill the Morlocks. He finds a box of matches and a jar of flammable camphor. The Time Traveller treks with Weena through the woods, hoping to reach the White Sphinx by the next morning. They gather sticks for a fire that night. At night, about a mile before a safe clearing, the Time Traveller spots some hiding Morlocks. He distracts them by setting fire to the sticks and leaving them there. He takes Weena through the woods as the fire spreads behind them. Soon, the Morlocks are on him and Weena. The Time Traveller scares them off with a match. Weena seems to have fainted, and he carries her. The action has disoriented him, and he is now lost. He camps out, gathering more sticks for a fire. He fends off the Morlocks with the light from his matches. The Time Traveller nods off, and wakens when the Morlocks are on him again. His matches are gone and his fire has gone out. He grabs his lever and strikes them. They flee, but the TT soon realizes the forest fire he previously set is the source of their fear. Unable to find Weena, he takes his lever and follows the Morlocks until he finds an open space. He strikes the Morlocks until he sees that they are incapacitated by the fire. He does not locate Weena among them. In the morning, when the fire dies down, he cannot find Weena, whose body he believes was left in the forest. He limps on to the White Sphinx, feeling lonely and vengeful. He discovers some loose matches in his pocket. Back with the Eloi, the Time Traveller reflects on how wrong his initial assumptions were. He thinks the human intellect had committed suicide by creating a perfect state in which the rich had wealth and comfort and the poor had life and work. Such a perfect balance can exist for only so long, he believes, before it is disruptedin this case, by the Morlocks need for food, which they find only in the Eloi. At the White Sphinx, he is surprised to find the bronze pedestal has been opened, and the Time Machine is inside. He throws away his weapon and goes inside. Suddenly, the bronze panels close up, and the Time Traveller is trapped. Morlocks laugh as they a pproach him. The Time Traveller feels safe, knowing he has only to reattach the levers on the machine to make his exit. However, his matches require a box to light. In the darkness, he fights them as he gets into the machines saddle and reattaches the levers. Finally, he pulls a lever and disappears. The Time Traveller notices that, in the confusion of his fight with the Morlocks, he accidentally sent himself into the future, rather than the past. Time Traveller observes the reddish landscape and the moss-like vegetation everywhere. There is no wind, the water of the sea barely moves, and the air is rarefied. He sees a huge, crab-like thing crawling toward him. The Time Traveller pulls his machines lever and watches more of the giant crabs crawl along the beach as he shoots forward through time. The sun grows larger and duller. After thirty million years, all life save the green vegetation ceases to exist, and it starts to snow. The Time Traveller stops the machine. He feels sick and confused and incapable of facing the return journey. He sees a black creature crawl out from the sea, and his fear of remaining in this environment compels him to climb back into the Time Machine. The Time Traveller relates to the men his travel back to the present time. The men imply that they do not believe his story, and soon leave. The narrator thinks more about the Time Travellers story, unsure if it is true. He goes to the laboratory the next day and asks the Time Traveller if his story was true. He promises it was, and says he will prove it in half an hour when hes done working on the machine. He leaves, and the narrator realizes he has to meet someone soon. As he goes into the laboratory to tell the Time Traveller, there is a gust of wind and some odd sounds, and neither the Time Traveller nor the Time Machine is present. When a servant tells him he has not seen the Time Traveller outside, the narrator understands he has travelled into time again. Three years later, the Time Traveller has yet to return to the present. The narrator wonders where the Time Travellers adventures may have taken him. While the Time Traveller saw that mankinds progress turned out to be destructive, the narrator believes human civilization may still do some good as it matures. The narrator also chooses to view the future as largely unknown. He now owns two white flowers given to the Time Traveller by Weenaproof, he says, that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of man.

Watchful Government in George Orwells 1984 Essay -- Supervision 1984

Watchful Government in George Orwell's 1984 No one likes being overly supervised and watched. Whether it is a teenager with protective parents or an adult in the workplace with an ever-watching boss the feeling of continuously being watched is unnerving. Throughout history the levels of government supervision have fluctuated from lows to extremes but sometimes the future seems to hold even more watchful governments. These were the feelings when George Orwell wrote the novel 1984. George Orwell showed a world without the freedoms that citizens in the United States live with every day. From looking at the text of 1984 it is obvious how scary a world it is, however this would never be possible in the United States, where inhabitants are free to live a life without repression. From freedom of the press, to freedom of expression and speech, citizens of the United States live with freedoms that those portrayed in 1984 could only dream of. Throughout his book there were many instances that showed Orwell's concern for the world to come. "The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a colored poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a meter wide; the face of a man of about forty-five with a heavy black mustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on n... ...Big Brother was always watching. Nothing was right unless he said so, and therefore if anyone said anything other then what they were supposed to they would be tried and convicted of a crime. The individual would probably not even know the crime existed. We are lucky as citizens of the United States to have such a freedom. George Orwell predicted a future where an authoritative figure watched every move of every inhabitant. There was no freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and no freedom of the press. For breaking the simplest rule, whatever it may be, the punishment would be severe. Fortunately, George Orwell's predictions of the future came to be untrue. In the United States we live in a society that has freedoms that inhabitants of the world in 1984 did not have. Most importantly, we have the freedom to be free, something George Orwell did not envision.

Journey to Christianity Essay

The preference for a religion or any sense of spirituality is a personal choice and digression. The option either not to actively participate in one’s religion’s rituals, traditions, and customs or do the otherwise, maybe even stay neutral, is still of personal consideration. Nothing or no one can truly and essentially mediate with these affairs unless allowed to do so by the said practitioner of beliefs and doer of such saintly conviction. For me, Christianity has been the choice of religion, and the personal spirituality gained from trusting it brings one’s mind, soul, and spirit in truly an almost enlightened state. Truth is every religion’s destination point and the journey to and through Christianity is one which continues and grows with each passing day. Journey to Christianity The discernment on religion and spirituality is one of the greater existential and even transcendental issues of human existence. Moreover, the concept of a greater being, or sometimes even beings, have been constructed into almost gloriously confusing and still remarkably mysterious belief systems which seemingly condemn the evil and venerate the good. But one thing holds true, pure, and private, no matter what: every individual is given that personal right to choose whatever it is that he or she wants to believe in or not—to condemn and venerate, or not. Christianity, a monotheistic faith, centers on strong belief system which only holds a One Higher and Greater Being to be God and His Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah—the Chosen One who stands as the prophesized-man’s key to salvation. All certainty, knowledge, and wisdom are believed written in the Holy Bible, which content is also believed to be beyond contestation. But before everything else is settled in both my religious and spiritual points of view, the journey is one which should continue and develop day by day by day. My journey began as a child. Like mostly everybody else, any form of belief, opinion and sense of culture begins at home and in school. As I did remember, it was in a simple arithmetic math class and a church sermon that I tried to make the correlations in between. I tried to make sense of things in such an early age. In class, we did simple arithmetic exercises which tested our accuracy in basic addition and subtraction. Then, as I remembered the weekend before, the priest from the church had mentioned the concept of the Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) — this snatched my attention from the class’s activities and carried on through the rest of the day. I thought to myself, how could three things be formed into one, if by plain law of mathematics one plus one equals two, then it also suggest that one plus one plus one cannot equate to one? In some way, even at an early age, I thought of things this way and looked for the interconnectivity among things, people, and events. Such matters stimulated my own process of trying to better learn the how’s and why’s of Christianity, and moreover about life and everything else in it. I tried my best not to accept everything as there are and were — this was my journey’s most definitive moment, for it spurred the essence of life—to search for something greater, to live with purpose and meaning. Such interest and zest carried on as years passed; it was a quest. A series of continuing investigations within myself, things around me, and with the people I knew, know, and came to know all played crucial roles in my own discernment of deity, concept a of Greater being, and everything else in between. Understanding the way they thought and perceived life contributed in my own personal process of thinking, in my decision making developments, and in my belief in both the earthly and divine elements. But amidst the enduring efforts, there was a gap which would never be answered, and the notion of not knowing would only be the somewhat and only agonizing conclusion. Even considering the long, comprehensive history of man and life and of various disciplines and sciences as only part of one speck in the whole universe, there is no way of actually and absolutely finding out the truth about God and all else that comes with it. Hence, there is faith. Faith is that intangible emotion of believing in something, someone—despite and in spite of all and any circumstance. This is the very essence of Christianity to accept as true—to love and to be a believer amidst temptation, sin, and what is wrong. Even though, at the end of it all, it is still a matter of personal choice, I chose Christianity because this is what fills and completes the gaps between my philosophical and spiritual trenches. No matter how far I would begin to discern, whether or not there is a God, whether or not there is salvation, it all brings me back to faith. All its teachings serve as a guide. All its lessons serve as a channel of reference. The journey to and through Christianity is one which has not been concluded, for it must be a long lasting process. Only in its conclusion will one find truth.

Reality and Illusion - 4098 Words

Reality versus Illusion Texts: Life of Pi King Lear Heavenly Creatures Blade Runner Pans Labyrinth Research Questions: 1. How does each character’s situation influence their perception or ideas of reality versus illusion? 2. What are the similarities and differences between the main character’s situation in each text? 3. What insights relating to reality and illusion can be gained from each text? Resources: Title: Life of Pi Author: Yann Martel Question 1: Pi survives his ordeal through the power of his own story telling. He uses it as a way of dealing with the horrific situation he has found himself in. By creating animal characters to replace the humans in the lifeboat he creates a coping mechanism powerful enough to†¦show more content†¦However as he gets to know Rachael and her history, he learns that there is much more to her and replicants in general. In the final scene when Roy saves Deckard, Deckard understands the true humanity shown by the replicants and the exploitation they have suffered. The replicants are ‘more human, than human.’ Question 2: Related to King Lear through the false face theme. Good characters are misjudged and isolated unfairly. Evil characters such as Tyrell, Edmund, Goneril and Regan lack empathy and are ruthless in their treatment of others. Question 3: This film provides insight into man’s inhumanity to man and teaches us that we should not judge others based on their appearance or background. There may be more to people than you think. We tend to dehumanise others as justification for our inhumane treatment of them. Title: Pans Labyrinth Director: Guillermo del Toro Question 1: Ofelia is a young girl who might be the lost princess of the underworld, and is undeniably the adoptive daughter of a brutal captain in Francos army whose job is to root out, torture and kill rebels in a remote village. Looking to escape the brutality in the world around her Ophelia discovers a fantasy world where she encounters an old, gnarled faun, fairies and members of an ancient forest aristocracy. The faun Pan challenges Ophelia to three tests to prove herself as the long lost princess of theirShow MoreRelatedReality and Illusion1812 Words   |  7 Pages Postmodern literature draws attention to its status as fictional to break down barriers between reality and illusion. The boundaries between ‘real’ and ‘fake’ are no longer clear, because identity is socially constructed. In White Noise and Nights at the Circus, characters such as Sophie Fevvers and Jack Gladney have fabricated personas, and they exaggerate these roles so that their audiences cannot tell the difference between what the characters perform and their ‘true’ nature. 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