The Traveler makes it back to the statue and finds that the doors are open. He gets away from them, but inadvertently starts a forest fire and Weena is killed in the chaos. He goes off exploring in the countryside with Weena in tow, and in the process of going through a ruined museum he lets the time get away from him and the Morlocks come out to attack after dark. Weena tags along with the Traveler, and he soon discovers the existence of the Morlocks, a race of subterranean creatures descended from the human working class that maintain the underground machines that support the Eloi.

He gives up on trying to free his machine, and later saves a drowning Eloi named Weena. Then, he discovers that someone has taken his time machine and he is frantic until he realizes that it has been locked in the bronze base of a nearby statue. All other animals are apparently extinct, and the vegetarian Eloi have every need mysteriously provided for. He first encounters the Eloi, a race of pretty, vacuous beings descended from humans. The England of the distant future is a beautiful place, almost a Utopia, but civilization is in majestic ruin. The narratorial voice switches to that of the Traveler himself, and he tells them that he went to the year 802701 A.D. After he has cleaned up and has eaten, he begins to tell them of his trip in time. The Time Traveler enters the room in terrible shape. Wells‘ novel opens with the Time Traveler explaining his plans to travel in time to a group of his Victorian peers (most only named by an occupational label.) The next scene is a dinner party a week later with the narrator and a few of the Time Traveler’s previous guests.

Plot Summary (Spoilers Inevitably Follow)

The time machine book hg wells