The book ‘When the Sleeper Wakes’ is one of the unique works of H.G. Wells originally published in the year 1899. The protagonist of the story is a nineteenth-century man named Graham, an insomniac who falls asleep for 203 years and wakes up in the year 2100. After a two-century long sleep, Graham discovers himself in the mechanized city of New London, which greets him with urbane steel and glass . He finds powerful men in a combination of political tyrants and capitalist exploiters. Wells describes the future society as a herd of prole masses along a luxuriant transport system consisting of sidewalks. The society of the future has neither privacy nor property due to the long and insensible hours of work in the companies. The rich elite class is under the control of the cities where it has the option to consume the excess wealth and ease the malignance of the society.
One of the impressive elements of the book is Wells' prediction of technology as a tremendous advancement with respect to various elements ranging from electronics to transportation. He imagines that in the future, one would see the representation of numbers in dozens and the existence of a single digit for number '11' . Wells also predicts about the television in the form of portable devices, which enable to watch the shows. Wells imagines the emergence of airplanes in the twenty-second century, but he never knew that they would exist within mere thirty years of the publication of his novel. However, the airplanes imagined by Wells in the year 2100 are novice with cloth wings that are open to the air. Also, Wells predicts that the people of the future drink elixirs in order to withstand the low air pressure at higher altitudes . He discusses about the towers and building built at higher altitudes. Wells narrates about moving walkways, which lie alongside of the roads for the convenience of the pedestrians.
The book ‘When the Sleeper Wakes,’ gives an account of Wells’ interest in socialism through the display of the Union card significantly in the book. Though the author portrays the conditions of the labor class in a saddening way, it is far closer to reality. However, Wells fails to provide an optimum solution to the labor class to overcome their situation except to “give the world” to the elite class. The society predicted by Wells takes the readers to the extreme level of capitalism. Wells describes the twenty-second century society as a post-democratic society which makes it impossible for the people to engage with the neighborhood. He portrays the society of the middle and the rich class as dependent on the underclass. He makes it impossible for the readers to build up an attachment with the characters of the book both emotionally and psychologically.
Though the book occupies the genre of science fiction, the author Wells gives an account of the various forms of Christianity and its ugly fate in addition to the technological elements. He explores the aesthetic possibilities of fiction and journalistic convention into reality. The sad part of the book is that Wells does not believe that Christianity would be durable for 200 long years amidst several cultural shifts . Wells overestimates the existence of Christianity as a bare form of entertainment and an irreverent novelty. He finds that the churches in the future society would merely teach nothing except catchphrases and slogans to the people instead of the Christian life. He portrays Christianity as rational, skeptical and a conduit of irrational events in the twenty-second century. Wells makes the readers understand about the injustices happening in the future society and the need for self-actualization in order to overcome the injustices.
Dystopian novels, such as the one written by Wells makes a mention of the author’s view about the future rather than the actual reality. It is difficult to anticipate whether it is what the author really wishes for or a mere fictional setting to frame a story. The book gives a clear account of the existence of eugenics and racial divisions in the future through the illustration of Ostrog’s army, which is a bunch of “fearsome negros” . Wells also uses other phrases of racism when he describes Graham as a “boss massa” with reference to the Africans. This determines Wells as a racist and that he believed in eugenics. The genius of Wells is appreciable for his vast imagination of the rejecting views of evil on eugenics and race in the future. He makes it clear to the readers about the relationship between love and hate, which gives rise to the debates between the key characters of the novel .
It is crucial to understand Wells’ vision of ‘seeing the future’ in the novel. Wells warns the use of media and technology in the corporate and globalized future, which does not contain any elements related to enlightenment and political progress. The author’s portrayal of Graham as an average man who possesses everything but neglects the same explains about the miraculous trance of Wells. Wells saw the social and economic tendencies of his contemporary period as anything but hopeful. Though the author saw hope for the mankind in the future society, he knitted the concepts of pain, death, power, corruption, despair and all other illusions in his novel. The fire of industrial revolution in the nineteenth century is clearly visible in the novel wherein Wells describes about the accomplishments of engineering, design, construction and technological developments after Graham wakes up from his sleep . He anticipates the architectural cities of the twenty-second century, which feature the circular tower concepts and round buildings.
Wells depicts Graham as a man who lends his hand to the working class and differentiates Graham’s vision of the Victorian era to the new era. The socio-cultural revolution portrayed by Wells in the novel emphasizes on social criticism of the nineteenth century. Wells visualizes the future world as an unstable place in which the black man is the victim of the rich class . The author wishes equality among men and women in the future society. He calls for the need of the unification of the people irrespective of their color and creed as the Victorian era saw several racial differences in the society. Through Graham, Wells fustians about the liberties and rights of the poor. He wishes the women to be free from home and independent from the restrictions of the Victorian era, in which women had the sole role of bearing children, educating them and developing into the future citizens useful to the society. Wells also makes a mention of the political aspirations, which were absent during the Victorian era due to the arrogance of the British Empire .
Wells pulls the insomniac Graham into the wars of the future and makes him the central cause for the rebellions between the social classes of the future society. He portrays the good ones as the bad ones as friends become enemies. The social changes that take place during the twenty-second century astonish the readers as they compare the contemporary world to the future. For the most part of the novel, it seems that the experiences narrated by Wells are his personal feelings rather than the reality happening in the world. It is only when he talks about the future that he gives an account of his anticipations and predictions, which seem imaginary . Wells’ reaction about the future society seems interesting and possesses no resemblance to the modern world except for the inventions, which he predicted to take several long years than the near future. The author keeps the spark of science fiction alive throughout the novel.
When comparing the novel ‘When the Sleeper Wakes’ to the movie by Mike Judge, the audience finds it easy to understand the hypothesis of Wells. While Wells provided an opportunity for improving human conditions in the future society, Judge portrays the novel in the best way possible to bring the book to reality. While Wells confuses the audience with his stream of events, Judge remarkably presents the possibilities of the future through the sensible use of technology . However, the most interesting part of the movie and the novel is that both Wells and Judge were no simple believers in progress. They possess an intellectual mind and expect to see the world as a place for human sustenance free from wars due to race and politics. Both the novel and the book address the issues of politics, which is dominant by the elite class. In regards to medicine, Wells predicts that the future would be secure without violence, bacterial and zymotic diseases .
Wells imagines the mankind to have sufficient clothing and food with adequate shelter from weather through the progress of science and the apt organization of the society. The multiple interpretations of the book mostly emphasize on technology, society and politics rather than the contemporary issues that might prevail in the future . Though Wells narrates about the socio-economic equality of the twenty-second century, it would have been better if the author proposed a set of solutions to overcome the issues rather indulge in war and make the protagonist the victim of the war. To conclude, the novel is the best fiction of the nineteenth century in which author Wells visualizes the twenty-second century world on the contrary to the Victorian era. The book stands as a literary treatise even in the present time as it interprets and anticipates the future world amidst developments in science and technology.
References
Jermier, John M. Literary methods and organization science: Reflection on 'When the sleeper wakes.'. Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1992.
Michel, Andreas. "Technology and Dystopia: H. G. Wells, Metropolis, and the Science Fiction City." Conference, Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery (2003): 42-47.
Williams, Keith. H.G. Wells, Modernity and the Movies. Liverpool University Press, 2007.
