In The Time Machine, the Eloi serve as a foil to the time-traveling scientist. The Time Traveller is portrayed as a man of science and reason, who is driven by a desire to understand the world around him. In contrast, the Eloi are portrayed as weak and dependent, and display a marked lack of curiosity about their foreign visitor:
A queer thing I soon discovered about my little hosts, and that was their lack of interest. They would come to me with eager cries of astonishment, like children, but like children they would soon stop examining me and wander away after some other toy.
The Time Traveller depicts the Eloi as childlike, with a carefree curiosity that is stifled by their short attentions spans. Their "astonishment" at his arrival quickly dissolves and they "wander away," a behavior born of both the safety they have come to expect from their environment and the childlike simplicity with which they engage it.
The "frailty" of the Eloi is also contrasted with the Traveller's robust physicality and his ability to travel long distances and endure hardships in pursuit of his goals. While traveling with Weena, a member of the Eloi people, the Traveller notes her inability to keep up with him and her swift exhaustion. In an environment in which all threats have been removed, the Eloi have become fragile and vulnerable.
The Elois' laziness and apathy serve to further highlight the Time Traveller's comparative intelligence and curiosity. Where he is innovative and curious, producing "theories" and "hypotheses" about the world he encounters, the Eloi are oblivious to the threat that lurks beneath their very feet. Only the Time Traveller has the presence of mind to use fire to defend himself from the Morlocks, and his ingenuity stands at odds with Weena's feeble dependence on him. The contrast between the Traveller and the Eloi emphasizes the self-inflicted loss of intelligence and inquisitiveness that humanity has undergone.
