Chapter 4 Summary

Approximately ten people gather around the machine. They are speaking in a strange language and begin touching the Time Traveler and the machine. He removes the levers, so the machine cannot accidentally be moved. The people, called the Eloi, all have short hair, small ears and mouths, and pointed chins. The Eloi are childlike; they put flowers around his neck and ask him if he came from the thunderstorm. He nods in agreement and thinks they are on the intellectual level of a five-year-old child in his time.

As they lead him into the grey building, he notices the landscape. Although it looks unkempt, there are no weeds. In the building, the Time Traveler finds tables filled with fruit. They eat only fruit because all animals are extinct in the year 802,701. During dinner, he makes an unsuccessful attempt at communication and observes the...