The two books have some things in common and a lot more differences. In this paper, I will compare and contrast the main characters, conflicts, setting, plot patterns, general differences, plot, point of view, opinions, and my critique. First of all, the two books have different characters. In Journey to the Center of the Earth there are three main characters. Professor Hardwigg, is a man fifty years old. He is tall, thin, and rich.
He wore large spectacles, is vastly round and has and goggle eyes. His nose was irreverently compared to a thin file. Henry is the main character and loves mineralogy, and geology. Hans Bjelke, an Icelander, was the guide. The main character in The Time Machine was the Time Traveler. He was a scientist that has built a time machine in which he plans to travel through time. Second of all, the two books are different in plot patterns. The book Journey to the Center of the Earth uses the plot “The Choice.” Professor Hardwigg found a parchment by Arne Saknussemm that tells how to get to the center of the Earth. The professor couldn’t resist an adventure and chose to go on it.
The Time Machine uses the plot “The Understanding.” The Time Traveler had built a time machine and went into the future. The sensation he felt when he traveled he could not describe. The kinds of conflict are different. Journey to the Center of the Earth uses the conflict Man Vs Nature. The travelers have to over come the dangers of the journey. They have to face the elements, starvation, thirst, and fatigue. The Time Machine uses Man Vs Society. The Time Traveler has traveled into the future where there is a child-like race called the Eloi. They were beautiful and graceful creatures. They were frail, had no hair, and were only about four feet tall.
Morlocks also! lived there. They were gruesome, pale, and chinless creatures. The Time Traveler’s time machine is stolen and he must try to get it back from the Morlocks or be forever trapped in the future. The setting of Journey to the Center of the Earth took place in the crater of Mount Sneffels at the end of June. The setting in The Time Machine was in the year 802701 in a small Eloi Village. There are many general differences between the two books, The Time Machine and Journey to the Center of the Earth. First of all, in the Journey to the Center of the Earth, Professor Hardwigg made many startling discoveries. One of those discoveries was the discovery of many different species of extinct animals, fish, birds, and dinosaurs. They also discovered a human skull. The length of the jawbones identified that it belonged to the Quaternary Period.
The Professor also discovered “a forest of mushrooms,” there were white nearly forty feet high, and with tops of equal dimensions. In the book The Time Machine the Time Traveler made no discoveries of any significance. Second of all, in the book Journey to the Center of the Earth the brave travelers prepared quite well for the trip. They brought: a first class chronometer, one compass for horizontal guidance, another to ascertain the dip, a night glass, two Ruhmkorf’s coils, and a voltaic battery. They brought tools to! help them descend into the crater of Mount Sneffels.
The tools were: two pickaxes, two crowbars, a silken ladder, three iron-shod Alpine poles, a hatchet, a hammer, a dozen wedges, some pointed pieces of iron, and a large amount of strong rope. They also brought weapons for protection. They were two rifles and two revolving six shooters. Of course, they wouldn’t forget to bring food and water! So, they brought enough food and water to last for sixty days. In the book, The Time Machine, the Time Traveler didn’t prepare whatsoever. He just took with him into the future what he wore with him. The plot differences between the two books had the least similarities. The plot of Journey to the Center of the Earth was to travel to the center of the Earth. Professor Hardwigg had found one of Arne Saknussemm’s encoded parchments, which you had to read backwards in Latin to decode.
The parchment wrote “Descent into the crater of Yocul of Sneffels, which the shade of Scartaris Caresses, before the Kalends of July, audacious traveler and you will reach the center of the Earth, I have done it.” Professor Hardwigg could not resist a challenge or adventure and he instantly made plans to travel to the center of the Earth. He contacted the Icelandic government to grant him and Henry access to Mount Sneffels. He had planned to pose as a mineralogist to study one of the craters of Mount Sneffels. After he had gathered all the necessary paper work they traveled to Iceland. There they met their guide, Hans Bjelke. Hans led them into the crater of Mount Sneffels. They travele! d for days, even weeks descending downward when at last they had run out of water. They tried to continue in hope of finding a fresh water spring. They found water. It was not a spring.
It was a stream of boiling water. They had named it the Hansbach. Then Henry was separated from the rest and lost. After he had be found they had to build a raft and sail on a sea the professor called the Central Sea. After they had crossed the sea they came to an engraving by Arne Saknussemm. The professor was overjoyed that they were on the right track. They had reached the Center of the Earth. To get back to civilization they found a passage way that lead them back to the surface of Iceland. The plot of The Time Machine was that the Time Traveler had built a time machine in which he plans to go to the future.
He had shown his colleagues a miniature replica and he sent it into the future. He had also built a much larger model. It was large enough to carry a man into the future ! or past. He went into the future to the year 802801. When he exited the building which was his home he saw a white sphinx off to the side. He had encountered beautiful and graceful creatures. They were frail, had no hair, and were only four feet tall. They had the intellectual equivalent to a five-year-old child. He saw one of the Eloi reach for the lever on the time machine that operated it. He shooed him away and removed the lever. The diet of the Eloi was fruit.
He could see that the cows, horses, cattle, and sheep were extinct. He tried to teach them his language but he found out that they had no interest of learning and they tired very easily. He had stayed a few days to explore. When he had decided it was time to go back to his time he had discovered that his time machine was stolen. He asked around and he found out that there was apparently an underground race called the Morlocks. Morlocks had pale skin, were chinless, and had pinkish-gray eyes. He descen! ded into the well, which was the entrance to the Morlocks. It was very dark in there and saw a figure move. He lit a match to see better. The figure fled back into the darkness. He could tell that the Morlocks where afraid of fire. He had figured that the Morlocks hid the time machine in the white sphinx.
He had no more matches so he could not scare the Morlocks away, then he had found a hidden cache of weapons, art, sculptures, and matches. He took the matches and a sword and went toward the white sphinx. When he entered the sphinx he could clearly see it was a trap. He lit a match and ran toward the time machine. He quickly attached the lever he had removed earlier. He started to make the time travel but the match had burnt out and the Morlocks were trying to pull him out of the time machine. He shook them lose and time traveled. He was not aware that he had traveled in to the future and not the past. When the time traveling had ceased. He saw a huge butterfly! fly overhead. He was apparently on a beach. Just as he prepared to travel back to his time a huge crab had climbed up the back of the time machine and was clawing for the Time Traveler. The Time Traveler struck it off with his sword. Then traveled back to his time.
He had then told his adventure in the future to his colleagues. His colleagues did not believe his story. He then had planned to travel back to the future but this time with a camera. The point of views in both the books were the same first-person. I thought the books were pretty good. The author of Journey to the Center of the Earth had used a lot of very big words that many people would not understand without a dictionary. The Time Machine was not as difficult to read. I would recommend Journey to the Center of the Earth only to high school students and above, but The Time Machine I would recommend to middle school students. These were the similarities and differences between the two books Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne and The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. There were many differences between the two books they were the main characters, conflicts, setting, plot patterns, general differences, plot, and point of view. I hoped you find this compare and contrast very informative.
