Essay Questions

How does Marty get back to 1985?

Marty has narrowly escaped being killed by the terrorists that killed Doc. He did so by going back in time in the DeLorean to 1955. The problem is that he has run out of plutonium which powers the DeLorean. Without it he cannot travel back to the future. He must track down Doc in 1955 and earn his trust. Once he does Doc creates a plan to power the DeLorean with lightning after he learns from Marty that the town's clock tower is famously hit by lighting on November 12, 1955 at 10:04pm. Marty gets the DeLoreon up to speed at 88 mph, and is able to catch the lighting strike harnessed by a wire connected to the bell tower which contacts the DeLorean's bar and sends Marty back to 1985 where Doc escapes being killed by the terrorists.

What's the significance of November 5, 1955?

Doc has just proven to Marty that he's created time travel by sending his dog back into time in the customized DeLorean. Marty is then shown how the DeLorean works and Doc tells him he could go anywhere in time and starts plugging dates as examples when he comes to November 5, 1955. The significance being that this is the day Doc came up with the idea for the flux capacitor--the very thing that allows time travel to happen 30 years later in 1985.

How is the future altered when Marty returns?

Marty has come back from 1955 into his present day 1985. When he gets back he's expecting some things to be quite different. He finds out they are. Biff, who was once a scoundrel who took advantage of Marty's Dad has now become a car detailer who washes all of the McFly's cars, and George has become a confident take charge man while Lorraine appears radiant and full of energy and life. All of this happened because George had to fight to win Lorraine's heart when Marty went back in time.