Summary Chapter 7

Having had a close, firsthand encounter with the Morlocks, Time Traveler begins to understand the dread and fear the Eloi have of the darkness and of the Morlocks. The Morlocks are repulsive, and the darkness is their natural medium. The Time Traveler formulates a new theory about this world he has stumbled unto. At some point in his history, Man had divided into the haves and havenots, the Elois being the haves and the Morlocks being the have nots. For a while the system had worked quite well, that is until the havenots had decided that they would no longer stand being second class citizens.

When Weena warns the Time Traveler of the coming Dark Nights (the days are getting shorter, the nights longer), the Elois’ fear of the Morlocks and the darkness infects the Time Traveler to a degree that he no longer sleeps well at nights. Consequently, the Time Traveler resolves to find a more secure place of shelter and to find a means of defending himself. He decides to explore the Palace of Green Porcelain, the largest structure in ruins he has yet seen. So with Weena in tow, the Time Traveler sets off for the ruin, which turns out to be a lot further than he had anticipated. During the exploration, Weena gathers flowers and puts them in the Time Traveler’s pockets. Presently, the Time Traveler shows his dinner guests two of these flowers which resemble mallows. He resumes his story.

After much trekking the Time Traveler and Weena arrive at the fringes of a thick wooded area. At this point, the sun has gone down, and loath to find themselves midst the darkness of the woods, the Time Traveler decides to rest here in the open space ‘til morning. Weena is already asleep, and so the Time Traveler, who had been carrying her, lays her down gently where they are, and having a seat, he waits for the morning.

The night passes without incident. Come morning the Time Traveler wakes Weena and they head into the woods. There they find themselves among some Elois who are as carefree as the day is bright. It’s as if daylight makes them totally oblivious of their fear of the darkness, and this prompts the Time Traveler to entertain a new thought about this world. And it is a thought that sends shivers down the Time Traveler’s back.

He recalls the bit of raw meat he saw in the Morlocks’ underground cavern. He theorizes that initially the Morlocks had fed on rats and vermin. But when that food supply ran out they had turned into virtual cannibals and now feed on Elois. The Elois are therefore livestock to the Morlocks who tend to the Elois’ comfort for the sake of breeding them like fatted cattle.

The Time Traveler tries to rationalize that the Elois had it coming to them what with their life of indolence and luxurious decay. He tries to. The fact is he can’t help but to sympathize with the Elois who have preserved a human likeness while the Morlocks resemble a lemur of some sort.

Subsequently, the Time Traveler resolves to find a better shelter for Weena and himself, acquire fire with which to repel the Morlocks, find a means to get his time machine back, and to return to his own time with Weena in tow.