Book Anatomy · The Time Machine
The Time Machine: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 68 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
4,610 different words. On average 51 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 2,404 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
machine, traveller, editor, lever, bronze. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 15.91 words ending in 'ly' and 10.83 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.7% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 5.6% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 45% of sentences: i, the, and, but, it.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 381 |
| the | 207 |
| and | 95 |
| but | 95 |
| it | 91 |
| then | 81 |
| he | 39 |
| at | 39 |
| there | 38 |
| for | 36 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.6 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
55 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.68 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 5: “I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you. You know …
Ch 3, para 7: The Psychologist was the only person besides the Doctor and myself who had attended the previous dinner. The other men were Blank, the Editor aforementioned, a certain journalist, …
Ch 3, para 24: “Agreed,” said the Editor, and the rest of us echoed “Agreed.” And with that the Time Traveller began his story as I have set it forth. He sat …
Ch 4, para 3: “I drew a breath, set my teeth, gripped the starting lever with both hands, and went off with a thud. The laboratory got hazy and went dark. Mrs. …
Ch 4, para 3: “I drew a breath, set my teeth, gripped the starting lever with both hands, and went off with a thud. The laboratory got hazy and went dark. Mrs. …
Ch 4, para 4: “I am afraid I cannot convey the peculiar sensations of time travelling. They are excessively unpleasant. There is a feeling exactly like that one has upon a switchback—of …
Wells uses similes sparingly but effectively, comparing sensations to familiar experiences: time travel feels like a switchback (c4), the Morlocks' hands plucking at him like disembodied threats (c9), and humanity's decline to a sunset (c6). Metaphors dominate: the machine as a trap, darkness as danger, fire as salvation.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 6, Ch 9, Ch 12
There is a feeling exactly like that one has upon a switchback—of a helpless headlong motion! (Ch 4, para 4)
It seemed to me that I had happened upon humanity upon the wane. The ruddy sunset set me thinking of the sunset of mankind. (Ch 6, para 12)
I felt the box of matches in my hand being gently disengaged, and other hands behind me plucking at my clothing. (Ch 9, para 12)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 63%, touch 20%, sound 14%, taste 2%, smell 1%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 352 |
| touch | 112 |
| sound | 79 |
| taste | 13 |
| smell | 6 |
Sight dominates throughout. Sound appears in Morlock noises and Weena's voice (c9, c14). Smell marks key moments: the sweet soil of the future (c9), the musty palace (c11). Touch conveys fear and intimacy: Weena's kisses, Morlock hands grasping (c9, c12). Taste is absent; the future offers only fruit.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 9, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 14
Their hair, which was uniformly curly, came to a sharp end at the neck and cheek; there was not the faintest suggestion of it on the face, and their ears were singularly minute (Ch 5, para 4)
I felt the box of matches in my hand being gently disengaged, and other hands behind me plucking at my clothing. (Ch 9, para 12)
Even the soil smelt sweet and clean. Then I remember Weena kissing my hands and ears, and the voices of others among the Eloi. (Ch 9, para 14)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
46 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 1.41 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Lists of three appear in the opening argument about dimensions (c1), the three dials measuring time (c14), and repeated patterns of escape and entrapment (c7, c12, c13). Repetition of 'darkness' and 'fire' as opposing forces structures the middle chapters. The phrase 'I remember' anchors emotional moments.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 7, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14
any real body must have extension in four directions: it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness, and—Duration (Ch 1, para 12)
One dial records days, and another thousands of days, another millions of days, and another thousands of millions. (Ch 14, para 2)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: hither, thither, art, whence, ere.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| hither | 5 |
| thither | 5 |
| art | 4 |
| whence | 1 |
| ere | 1 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Wells shows rather than tells the Eloi's weakness through their failure to rescue Weena (c8), their indolence through observation (c5), and the Morlocks' threat through direct encounter (c9). The Time Traveller's theories are tested against lived experience, revealing his misbeliefs.
Chapters: Ch 5, Ch 8, Ch 9
The question had come into my mind abruptly: were these creatures fools? (Ch 5, para 6)
none made the slightest attempt to rescue the weakly crying little thing which was drowning before their eyes (Ch 8, para 8)
The Morlocks at any rate were carnivorous! Even at the time, I remember wondering what large animal could have survived to furnish the red joint I saw. (Ch 9, para 10)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description is woven into action rather than preceding it. The future world unfolds as the Time Traveller explores (c4-c6). The palace is described while he searches for weapons (c11). Only the cosmic vision (c14) pauses action for extended description of the dying earth.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 11, Ch 14
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 10.04 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| saw | 88 |
| seemed | 72 |
| thought | 57 |
| felt | 57 |
| heard | 20 |
| knew | 15 |
| noticed | 8 |
| watched | 5 |
| realised | 4 |
| wondered | 2 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from intellectual debate (c1-c2) to wonder (c4-c5), then to growing dread (c8-c10), despair at Weena's loss (c12), cosmic awe (c14), and finally to ambiguous mystery (c16). The frame narrative maintains sceptical distance while the Time Traveller's account grows darker.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 8, Ch 10
I was in my laboratory at four o’clock, and since then … I’ve lived eight days … such days as no human being ever lived before! (Ch 3, para 23)
I had slept, and my fire had gone out, and the bitterness of death came over my soul. (Ch 12, para 10)
I felt the intensest wretchedness for the horrible death of little Weena. It seemed an overwhelming calamity. (Ch 12, para 17)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy is sparse and intellectual. Filby's stubborn scepticism (c1-c2) provides dry humour. The Time Traveller's self-aware irony about his 'wrong theories' (c6) and his trap (c7) offers wry moments. The guests' disbelief at the end (c16) creates dark comedy through contrast with the flowers as proof.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 16
Very simple was my explanation, and plausible enough—as most wrong theories are! (Ch 6, para 20)
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