The Time Machine - Illustrated and Annotated

Under its thrilling Sci-Fi structure, the novel supplies a thorough analysis of the chasm which divided the different classes in late 19th century England.When the time traveler comes into contact with the Eloi for the first time, the palaces in which they lived and which had replaced the Victorian structure of houses and cottages suggest to his mind a communist evolution into a utopian world. In this manner, Wells imparts his viewpoint on the doctrine by focusing on the limited bodily and mental faculties of the Eloi. Having no more motivation to strive for under such a system humanity would simply collapse into a state of imbecility and childishness.Upon his meeting with the Morlocks, the time traveler's idea of the new world changes and takes the shape of a capitalist disaster in which the two main classes had grown so different that they ended up into different species which conveys the author's opinion regarding capitalism during the latter part of the 19th century.The subsequent discovery in regard to the Morlocks' cannibalism suggests an inversion of capitalism into some sort of dystopian socialism where the lower classes turn savagely against the well-to-do and the wealthy.The time traveler's sympathy for the Eloi and repugnance towards the Morlocks reflect Wells' social consciousness as the son of a shopkeeper who had failed in maintaining the family's economical security so that Wells' own mother had found herself under the obligation of seeking a position as a servant. This caused the author to nurture a constant fear of destitution and degeneration.

I didn't even want to read this book and the only way I finished it was on audio.