The Time Machine 7

Study Guide Questions for Chapter Six

If you are looking for the beginning of the study of H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of available book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Fear, Loneliness, Fortitude, Recklessness

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What did the Time Traveller realize about the moon?

2. What did the Time Traveller think would be necessary to do in order to find his time machine?

3. As the Time Traveller journeyed “further afield” than he had before, what did he see which interested him?

4. What did Weena do when the Time Traveller went to descend into the ventilation shaft?

5. What made the Time Traveller’s descent difficult?

6. Describe the environment, sights, and sounds that the Time Traveller discovered during his time below ground.

7. What explanation did the Time Traveller give for why he went into the future with such little equipment?

8. What did the Morlocks attempt to do with the Time Traveller?

9. What danger did the Time Traveller face as he tried to ascend back to the surface?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. How might the Time Traveller’s observation about the lunar cycle play into the plot of the story?

2. The Time Traveller said he “could not face the mystery” of the underground. Why do you think he felt that way?

3. What do you think the “Palace of Green Porcelain” might be?

4. We are told “The thudding sound of a machine below grew louder and more oppressive.” What should be inferred from the presence of active machinery in the underworld?

5. Where do you think the Morlocks get the meat for their meals?

6. What might have been wise for the Time Traveller to have done in order to be better prepared for his trip underground?

7. What do you think the Morlock’s intentions were towards the Time Traveller?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. The Time Traveller said his “curiosity regarding the Palace of Green Porcelain was a piece of self-deception, to enable [him] to shirk, by another day, an experience [he] dreaded.” Why do we put off things which we know we must inevitably do? What do the dictates of prudence tell us we ought to do when we face a difficult or undesirable task which, nevertheless, must be done? How do we become the kind of person who is willing to do hard things without shirking our responsibilities?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read John 3:19 and 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. These are just two examples out of many in Scripture where the Bible uses light and darkness to talk about the difference between God and God’s people versus evil powers, people, and deeds. How is light and darkness used in this book in a similar way?