Work record
When the Sleeper Wakes
H. G. WellsH. G. Wells; HG Wells; H.G. Wells; H G Wells; HGWells; Herbert George Wells; The Sleeper AwakesWhen the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells (1899)When the Sleeper Wakes is Wells's early dystopian novel about a man who sleeps for two centuries and wakes to find that he owns the world.Also known as: The Sleeper Awakes
1899 (serialized 1898-99) · 19th Century · Novel · English
Abstract
Premise. An exhausted Victorian radical falls into a trance and remains asleep for more than two centuries. Investments left in trust grow until the trustees, ruling in his name, control most of the planet.
Awakening. He wakes in a vast enclosed city of moving roads and flying machines. The trustees want him silenced, but crowds who revere the legendary sleeper rise and set him free.
The world he owns. He discovers a society split between a pleasure-seeking elite and workers in blue uniforms. Propaganda pours from talking machines, and the leader of the revolt plans to rule as a dictator.
Choice. A young woman shows him the suffering of the poor. He turns against the new master and takes to the air against an incoming fleet, his fate uncertain.
For students. The original 1899 text is used here; Wells later revised it. Discuss wealth, power, propaganda and false hopes, and note the period racial fears in the book's portrayal of colonial troops.
Influence. Its picture of a corporate world state, crowds stirred by broadcast voices and battles in the air fed directly into later dystopian fiction, from Zamyatin and Huxley to Orwell.
Main characters
- Graham: the Sleeper
- Ostrog: revolutionary boss
- Helen Wotton: young idealist
- Lincoln: official
- Isbister: witness to the trance
Summary
When the Sleeper Wakes is Wells's early dystopian novel about a man who sleeps for two centuries and wakes to find that he owns the world. In 1897 Graham, a Victorian radical exhausted by insomnia, falls into a trance in a Cornish seaside town. He sleeps for two hundred and three years. While he sleeps, his money, left in trust and growing through compound interest and inheritance, buys up much of the earth, and the trustees, the White Council, rule in his name. When he wakes in a vast glass-roofed London of moving roadways, airplanes and giant machines, the Council plans to drug him or kill him, since his existence threatens their power. The people of London, who have come to see the legendary Sleeper as a messiah, rise in revolution to free him, led by the politician Ostrog. Graham becomes the figurehead of the new order and learns the world he has inherited: a society divided between a wealthy, pleasure-seeking elite and a vast laboring class enslaved by the Labour Company in blue uniforms, with Pleasure Cities, babies raised in creches, and propaganda delivered by 'babble machines'. Ostrog has his own plans and intends to rule as dictator, bringing African police to crush the workers. Helen Wotton, a young woman who believes in justice, opens Graham's eyes to the people's suffering. Graham sides with the people and, in the final battle, flies an airplane against Ostrog's fleet of aeroplanes bringing troops, and falls to an uncertain end. The novel imagines a modern capitalist dystopia of mass media, urban crowds and air war, and it anticipated much later science fiction. Wells revised it in 1910 as The Sleeper Awakes; the library uses the original 1899 text. Readers should note that the book's portrayal of African troops reflects period racial fears and should be discussed critically. The story raises lasting questions about power, propaganda, ownership, and the duty of those who hold power to the poor.
Virtues in this work
Plot or Argument
- Chapters 1-5: The sleep and awakening
Graham falls into a trance in 1897 and wakes in 2100 in a giant futuristic London.
- Chapters 6-12: Revolution
The White Council imprisons Graham; Ostrog leads a revolution that frees him.
- Chapters 13-20: The new world
Graham learns of the Labour Company and Ostrog's plans to rule.
- Chapters 21-24: The aeroplanes
Graham sides with the people and fights Ostrog's air fleet.
Characters
- Graham, the Sleeper
Victorian radical who wakes to find himself owner of the world.
- Ostrog, Boss
Politician who uses Graham to seize power.
- Helen Wotton, idealist
Young woman who awakens Graham's conscience.
- Lincoln, Ostrog's cousin
Smooth official who manages Graham.
- Isbister, artist
Witness to Graham's trance in 1897.
Lessons
Ownership and responsibility
Graham owns the world but has done nothing to earn it. The novel asks what owners owe the poor.
- What does Graham learn about the Labour Company?
- What does he decide to do?
Propaganda
Babble machines and crowds shape opinion. Wells foresees mass media manipulation.
- How do babble machines work?
- Where do we see propaganda today?
False messiahs
The people hope in the Sleeper as a savior, but Ostrog uses that hope.
- Why do people expect Graham to save them?
- How does Christian hope differ?
Context
Written in the late 1890s amid labor unrest, fears of monopoly capitalism and new technologies, the novel draws on Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward while reversing its optimism.
Composition
Serialized in The Graphic in 1898-99 and published in 1899; revised by Wells in 1910 as The Sleeper Awakes. The library text is the original 1899 version.
Reception
Influential on later dystopias such as Zamyatin's We and Huxley's Brave New World.
Comparisons
- The Time Machine
Another Wells vision of a divided future society.
- Brave New World
Huxley's dystopia of pleasure and control.
- We
Zamyatin's dystopia, influenced by Wells.
- Nineteen Eighty-Four
Orwell's dystopia of propaganda and power.
Quotes
“You are the Master of the Earth. You are owner of half the world.”
For Students
A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.
Reading Guide
Watch for
- How Graham's wealth grew while he slept.
- The technologies of the future city.
- Ostrog's true goals.
- Graham's final choice.
Key terms and names
- White Council
- Trustees who rule in Graham's name.
- Labour Company
- Organization that controls workers.
- Babble machines
- Devices that broadcast news and propaganda.
- Dystopia
- An imagined society worse than our own.
Seminar Questions
- Comprehension How did Graham become owner of the world?
- Comprehension What does Ostrog want?
- Interpretation How does Wells portray the future working class?
- Interpretation What role does Helen play?
- Interpretation What does the ending suggest about Graham?
- Big Question What responsibilities come with power and wealth?
Faith Connections
- Luke 12:48 (Scripture)
To whom much is given, much shall be required; Graham must decide how to use his power.
- James 5:4 (Scripture)
The wages of laborers kept back by fraud cry out; the novel exposes the oppression of workers.
Logic and Rhetoric
Central argument: Power concentrated by wealth and technology tends toward oppression unless those who hold it choose justice.
Rhetorical device: Rip Van Winkle device. A sleeper wakes in the future, letting the author show it through a stranger's eyes.
Debate: Resolved: that Graham was right to oppose Ostrog.
Writing Prompts
Essay: Explain how Wells uses Graham's awakening to criticize his own age.
Comparison with The Time Machine: Compare Wells's two future societies.
Medical Lens
Graham's insomnia and two-century trance frame the novel.
- Ch. 1
Graham describes his sleeplessness and despair.
- Ch. 2
The trance and medical observations of the sleeping man.
Creative Prompts
- Fiction
Write Graham's first impressions of the future London.
- Essay
Compare Wells's future with our own world.
- Classroom
Debate: is Graham a hero, a fool or a pawn of others?
Further Reading
- The Time Machine, H. G. Wells
Wells's first future vision.
Verification notes
The library uses the 1899 text titled When the Sleeper Wakes (Gutenberg #775), not the 1910 revision. Racial depictions of African troops reflect period anxieties.
No verification flags recorded.