The Time Machine Pd.1 Character Watcher Post 3 Erin Campbell
First off since we didn’t have a chance to really discuss how much we were going to read I think we should make a decision. The last chapter I read was chapter 10. If you think we should read a different amount just let me know.
In this last section of few things have changed in the Time Traveler. The frenzy which we saw growing in the previous section has grown into some new things. One thing that has occurred is a strong fear of the night. This is instilled in him after he has his first big interaction with the Marlocks. The character says, “I will confess I was horribly frightened. I determined to strike another match and escape under its glare… That upward climb seemed unending. While I still had the last twenty or thirty feet of it above me, a deadly nausea came upon me. I had the greatest difficulty in keeping my hold.” After this incident the Time Traveler no longer feels safe so he searches out a safe refuge for him and Weena to live in at night. He decides to look at the green, porcelain palace that he saw before.
Another change we see is that the Morlocks have caused him to hold a great anger against them. He gets even as far as wanting to injur or kill them. This we see is mainly because he cannot picture Weena as a meal for them. While he was down in the well-like place he saw that they ate the Eloi. He cares for Weena and he does not want to see her become a meal. He thinks to himself, “I longed very much to kill a Morlock or so. Very inhuman, you may think, to want to go killing one’s own descendants, but it was impossible somehow to feel any humanity in the things.” After he says this he searches the museum (the green palace) and finds more matches, used to scare them away, and a crow bar, which could easily kill their fragile bodies.
Another thing noticeable about the Time Traveler is that he has become very close to Weena, almost as if he loves her. This seems like a rather unorthodox, and an incredibly long distance relationship (to say the least), yet he does not seem to mind. His plan is to bring Weena with him back to the present.
So my questions to you are:
1. Do you think that you would be afraid of the Morlocks, why or why not, and do you see the Time Travelers reasoning for being frightened of them?
2. Do you believe that the Time Traveler will ever have the courage to kill any of the Morlocks? Why or Why not?
3. Would you have the courage that the Time Traveler had to go down into well-like place? How would you respond differently to the situation then he did?
4. Obviously Weena does not come back with the Time Traveler, or else we would have met her at the beginning of the book. What do you think caused the change of plans to bring her with him back to the present?
~Erin Campbell =]
Category: Character Watcher 5 comments »
April 11th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
1. I would be afraid of the Morlocks because they are monsters. They seem to be like the things of our dreams only real. I do indeed see why the time traveler is frightened of the Morlocks. They eat the creatures of his friend and they tried to kill him.
2. I think that he will have the courage to kill the morlocks but I don’t think that he will actually do it. What he saw in the woods. He sees that they are just trying to survive and sees that they are weak. He is controlled by his humanity to much to kill them.
3. I think I would have courage to go down in the hole but I would definatly get scared and retreat.
4. The reason Weena does not come back is because she suoposedly died in the woods.
-Taran
April 12th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Taran since you obviously read more than everyone else please don’t give things away like the death of Weena! That completely ruined that for me. =[
April 13th, 2009 at 6:35 am
Sonam Sherpa
Well, to answer your first question, I would like to say in general that I would not have dealt with this situation very well at all. I probably would be scared out of my mind. But, to answer your question; Yes, I would be quite scared of these Morlocks. I can perfectly understand why the Time Traveller is scared of them. The reason why is because he doesn’t know everything about them, therefore making them something that he doesn’t have vast intellectual knowledge on, and I think it’s that fact that scares him.
Now, to answer your second question; Yes, I think that the Time Traveller is quite capable of killing if that is really what he would want to do. The reason why is because when we see that the time traveller is more of a man of sense than of emotion, so if it would be sensible to kill a Morlock I think he would do so. Another reason why I believe this is because of his care for Weena. The reason why this makes a difference is because if he has someone worth fighting for he would do so even if he didn’t want to.
To answer your third question; I would have definately not been able to go down into the well like the time traveller did. The reason why is because before he went down into the well, the creatures in the well were the “unknown”, and everyone, whether they know it or not, have a general fear of things that they do not know. If I were in his situation then I probably would have just run around flailing my arms as strong as I could after I ran out of matches. The reason why is because I would think that since the time machine was gone death was inevitable, so might as well do something slightly beneficial to the Eloi who aided him.
And finally to answer your fourth question; It is highly probable that she had ended up dying. The reason why is because she was an Eloi and just because she was with the time traveller I doubt the Morlocks would be afraid to attack her. (Another reason why I think this is because Taran already ruined it for us). Or, it could just be that Weena didn’t want to go with the time traveller because of something that he did that might have frightened her.
I hope my answer is satisfactory.
(Sorry, I know it’s a lot to read, but I remembered Mr. Shank saying something about everything being in paragraph form.)
April 13th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Colin Easter
1. I would be afraid of the Morlocks. There are tons of them, they eat the Eloi, and they come out at night. However, they don’t seem tough by themselves. They are only scary in large packs.
2. I think that the Time Traveller does have the courage to kill them, because he already has. In chapter nine, he says, “At first I did not realize their blindness, and struck furiously at them with my bar, in a frenzy of fear, as they approached me, killing one and crippling several more.” He had also killed three before that. The Time Traveller is also not scared of doing what he needs to do to get back to the present.
3. I would go down into the well just like the Time Traveller. That was one of his only options to find out about where the Time Machine was. It also revealed more about the mystery of the future. I would have responded differently by fashioning a weapon and torch before going down there.
4. As Taran said, Weena dies in the forest. This was caused by the Morlocks supposedly dropping her when the fire started. It was at the end of chapter nine, which fits into the reading chapters in your post.
April 13th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
1. I would definatly be afraid of the morlocks, they attacked him out of know where. They are scary because they live underground and only come out at night, and that is kinda freaky. I definatly see the time travlers reasoning for being afraid of them because they seem evil and not too freindly and they attacked hima dn stole his time machine.
2. I definatly feel he will have the courage to kill some morlocks because they have stole his time machine and now weena is missing. I think that with Weena missing he will try to get back at the morlocks.
3. Well to tell you the truth i would not have the courage to go down, but i think i would kinda poke my head in and then run for my life.
4. Well right now we do no tknow where wenna is. With the morlocks eating the Eloi she can be killed. ( and plus someone already kinda gave it away)
-Amber