Editor's Choice
Is Weena necessary to the story of The Time Machine?
Quick answer:
Weena's role in The Time Machine is debated. Some argue she is unnecessary, serving as a clichéd damsel-in-distress, while others see her as an integral character. She provides emotional depth, representing the Eloi and influencing the Time Traveler's understanding of the future society. Her gratitude and tenderness suggest enduring human qualities. Without Weena, the story might lack emotional impact and a personal connection to the Eloi's plight.
This question is up the the subjective opinion of each reader, so it is possible to have various answers.
On one hand, I really do not think that she is necessary. In some ways, she is nothing more than a cliche damsel-in-distress. She gets herself into a dangerous situation, and the Time Traveler then rescues her. I suppose you could make the claim that she is integral to the story as a prop device, but I don't think that makes her integral to the overall scope of what the book is teaching to readers.
Some readers try to claim that Weena is essential to the story because romance and/or love is a central aspect of the story. Movie versions of this book definitely try to convince audiences that there is a potential romantic relationship between Weena and the protagonist ; however, the Time Traveler refers to Weena as a child...
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far too often for me to buy into the alleged romantic subtext. I think the relationship is much more comparable to the affection between a father and a daughter.
Weena is different from other Eloi in that she expresses gratitude, and that might be the key to Weena; however, readers have to get through the epilogue to see how she might be important to the overall story—she shows how some parts of humanity can't be destroyed or changed:
And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers—shrivelled now, and brown and flat and brittle—to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of man.
Weena is the only representative of the Eloi that the Time Traveler becomes very familiar with. She represents all that is good and bad about this future race of people that is bred like cattle by the Morlocks. It is through observing her behavior that the Time Traveler learns about the relationship between the Morlocks and the Eloi.
In the story, Wells only gives names to characters that are important, and Weena is one of them. We are given an emotional attachment to Weena and begin to care about the Eloi through her. Without her we might not care enough about the Eloi or what the Time Traveler tries to do, and the story would not have the emotional impact that it has.