SOURCE: Parrinder, Patrick. “Possibilities of Space and Time (The Time Machine).” In Shadows of the Future: H. G. Wells, Science Fiction and Prophecy, pp. 34-48. Liverpool, United Kingdom: Liverpool University Press, 1995.

In the following essay, Parrinder explores the significance of time travel in Wells's fiction, particularly The Time Machine.

I

Towards the end of The Time Machine, the Traveller finishes the story of his adventures, pauses, and looks around at his listeners. He is like a lecturer waiting for the first question after his talk, and like many nervous lecturers he tries to start the ball rolling by interrogating the audience himself. ‘“No. I cannot expect you to believe it”’, he begins. ‘“Take it as a lie—or a prophecy. Say I dreamed it in the workshop. … Treat my assertion of its truth as a mere stroke of art to enhance its interest. And taking it as a...