User:Eighty5cacao/misc/Eloi physiology (fanon)/Weena


 * This page assumes that by some stroke of luck, the Time Traveller correctly determined the names of Weena and the Eloi and Morlock species. Also, it assumes that he more or less correctly evaluated his own proficiency in the Eloi language.
 * Some sections assume Damian Yerrick's hypothesis on psychoactive drugs in Eloi–Morlock society.

Emotional intelligence
In Ch. 5, Weena demonstrates greater emotional intelligence than other Eloi in her community: "This [rescue] happened in the morning. In the afternoon I met my little woman, as I believe it was, as I was returning towards my centre from an exploration, and she received me with cries of delight and presented me with a big garland of flowers—evidently made for me and me alone." Some readers have argued that any Eloi would respond affectionately to such a rescue. Regardless of whether that is accurate, the delay in Weena's response appears to exceed the attention span of a typical Eloi. "I proceeded...to question Weena about this Under-world, but here again I was disappointed. At first she would not understand my questions, and presently she refused to answer them. She shivered as though the topic was unendurable. And when I pressed her, perhaps a little harshly, she burst into tears." Perhaps Weena has a better conception of sadness than an average Eloi. What happened to her to make her feel genuinely sad about the topic? Perhaps a close friend or immediate family member of hers was recently killed by the Morlocks? (That Weena has a clear conception of "close friendship" would be another sign that she is unusual.) Compare the emotional responses of other Eloi: I began, bawling like an angry child, laying hands upon them and shaking them up together. It must have been very queer to them. Some laughed, most of them looked sorely frightened.

I wasted some time in futile questionings, conveyed, as well as I was able, to such of the little people as came by. They all failed to understand my gestures; some were simply stolid, some thought it was a jest and laughed at me.

pointing to the bronze pedestal, I tried to intimate my wish to open it. But at my first gesture towards this they behaved very oddly ... Suppose you were to use a grossly improper gesture to a delicate-minded woman—it is how she would look. Most Eloi use laughter as a generic reaction of surprise and/or bemusement, but Weena only laughs at things a present-day human might[clarify/weasel word] consider funny: "...in a foolish moment, I made threatening grimaces at her, and she simply laughed at them."

Generally, the Eloi do not form close personal relationships except to mate, as they are r-strategists with limited social cognition. Weena, on the other hand, has wanted to "just be friends" with other Eloi for much of her life. Other Eloi probably misunderstand her inquiries, especially since their language is unlikely to distinguish clearly between these different types of attraction. Thus, they get creeped out and decline to interact with her further.

It is possible that Weena looks nerdy by Eloi standards.

General intelligence
It is possible that Weena is also more intelligent in general. For example, she willfully refuses to discuss the Morlocks because she knows something about their way of life. ( Chapter 7: "Weena had put this into my head by some at first incomprehensible remarks about the Dark Nights." Assuming the Traveller is correct, this implies that Weena has sufficient attention span and memory to observe the moon phases over about a month, as well as sufficient intelligence to understand the implications of the moonlight intensity. The fact that Weena's comments were "at first incomprehensible" suggests that they contained some information beyond the basic "night = Morlocks = bad" level, though certainly not a full description of Morlock hunting and feeding habits.)

In contrast, the other Eloi have a long-standing taboo against even thinking about the Morlocks. (As some readers may put it, "The first rule of the Morlocks is: You do not talk about the Morlocks.")

In various situations, Weena might attempt to strain the definitions of existing words and/or compose new words from established roots. This could contribute to misunderstandings between her and other Eloi.

One particular intelligent behavior Weena may exhibit is the use of the (calm) surface of a body of water as a mirror to look at herself. Other Eloi probably wouldn't understand what she is trying to do, due to their limited self-awareness (see also Mirror test).

TODOs
In ch. 9, Weena may have been "playing possum." (Note that this explains only Weena's initial collapse; regardless of how that happened, she would still have died in the fire if she remained unconscious.) Such a response may benefit the Eloi if the Morlocks avoid disease by not eating Eloi found to be sick or already dead. The response may be suppressed in a typical Eloi by the drugs.

How much hypopnea occurs in opossums and other real-world examples of thanatosis? Compare the Traveller's descriptions of Weena's condition, "She seemed scarcely to breathe" and "I could not even satisfy myself whether or not she breathed" in IX.6-8.

Might Weena be the only Eloi in her community who is intelligent enough to care about naming herself? Alternatively, perhaps Weena is the only one smart enough to pick one name and stick with it her entire life, while other Eloi are less consistent in their use of name-like sound patterns.

To what extent could Weena be representative of an Eloi raised in an "ideal" environment (present-day technology, with no psychoactive drugs and no Morlocks)? The mutation hypothesis shouldn't matter much under the stipulation that the drugs are avoided. See the talk page, though the actual content of the discussion may eventually go elsewhere.