In A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury, a man named Eckels lives in a future where time travel is possible. He visits a place called Time Safari Inc. with hopes to go back in time to shoot a dinosaur. Throughout the story, Bradbury uses hyperbole and foreshadowing to convey the message that even the past is not to be messed with.
As we read A Sound of Thunder, Bradbury foreshadows as to what will come. Travis ,the guide of Eckels safari, instructs at the beginning of the trip “ We don't want to change the future” (Bradbury 32). This line is repeated many times throughout the story and keeps the reader thinking that somehow the future will be changed. In addition, the guide also warns “ If you fall of the path there’s a stiff penalty”(Bradbury 32). This use of foreshadowing leads us to conclude that Eckles will somehow go off the past and change the future. …show more content…
He says “ Say we accidently kill one mouse here. That means all the future families of this one particular mouse are destroyed. Well, what about the foxes that’ll need those mice to survive? For want of ten mice, a fox dies. For want of ten foxes a lion starves. For want of a lion, all manner of insects, vultures, infinite billions of lifeforms are thrown into chaos and destruction. Step on a mouse and you crush the pyramids. Step on a mouse and you leave your print, like a grand canyon across eternity. Queen Elizabeth might never be born, Washington might not cross the Delaware, there might never be a United States at all. So be careful. Stay on the Path. Never step off ( Bradbury 40)!” This use of characterization expresses the idea that something as tiny as a mouse could destroy the future, which relates to the overall message of the
As we read A Sound of Thunder, Bradbury foreshadows as to what will come. Travis ,the guide of Eckels safari, instructs at the beginning of the trip “ We don't want to change the future” (Bradbury 32). This line is repeated many times throughout the story and keeps the reader thinking that somehow the future will be changed. In addition, the guide also warns “ If you fall of the path there’s a stiff penalty”(Bradbury 32). This use of foreshadowing leads us to conclude that Eckles will somehow go off the past and change the future. …show more content…
He says “ Say we accidently kill one mouse here. That means all the future families of this one particular mouse are destroyed. Well, what about the foxes that’ll need those mice to survive? For want of ten mice, a fox dies. For want of ten foxes a lion starves. For want of a lion, all manner of insects, vultures, infinite billions of lifeforms are thrown into chaos and destruction. Step on a mouse and you crush the pyramids. Step on a mouse and you leave your print, like a grand canyon across eternity. Queen Elizabeth might never be born, Washington might not cross the Delaware, there might never be a United States at all. So be careful. Stay on the Path. Never step off ( Bradbury 40)!” This use of characterization expresses the idea that something as tiny as a mouse could destroy the future, which relates to the overall message of the