Thematic Analysis of A Sound of Thunder
The butterfly effect poses a dangerous fantasy that could quite possibly become reality. Ray Bradbury’s cautionary tale, A Sound of Thunder, predicts a future where this fiction truly becomes fact. The main character of this short story, Eckels, lives in a time 40 years our latter, where man can relive the past through time travel. Capitalizing on the unsung privilege of his modern world, Eckels decides to finally partake in a “time safari”. After a disastrous series of events, which include a terrifying encounter with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Eckels and the safari guides return to an altered future. As they slowly detect the effects of their historical footprint, Eckels grasps, along with the reader, the theme Bradbury hints at throughout the story. Through use of dialogue, foreshadowing, and implicit writing, Ray Bradbury develops the theme that we should be mindful of our actions, as a single event can have untold consequences.
Dialogue between Eckels and the safari guide, Travis, …show more content…
Early into the short story, an employee of the company that offers the safaris has a seemingly off topic discussion on politics with Eckels: “People called us up, you know… Said if Deutscher became President they wanted to go live in 1492… Anyway, Keith’s President now” (Bradbury 1). Though in the exposition it provided no development of the plot, after Eckels’ returns from his catastrophic hunt, their conversation is repeated: “‘Who won the presidential election yesterday?’... ‘Deutscher of course! Who else?... We got an iron man now, a man with guts!” (Bradbury 8). The modified presidential election confirms the time travellers’ worries: that Eckels’ mistake would impact the present day. Unknowingly, the “man behind the desk” validates and reveals to the reader the theme’s emergence in the
The butterfly effect poses a dangerous fantasy that could quite possibly become reality. Ray Bradbury’s cautionary tale, A Sound of Thunder, predicts a future where this fiction truly becomes fact. The main character of this short story, Eckels, lives in a time 40 years our latter, where man can relive the past through time travel. Capitalizing on the unsung privilege of his modern world, Eckels decides to finally partake in a “time safari”. After a disastrous series of events, which include a terrifying encounter with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Eckels and the safari guides return to an altered future. As they slowly detect the effects of their historical footprint, Eckels grasps, along with the reader, the theme Bradbury hints at throughout the story. Through use of dialogue, foreshadowing, and implicit writing, Ray Bradbury develops the theme that we should be mindful of our actions, as a single event can have untold consequences.
Dialogue between Eckels and the safari guide, Travis, …show more content…
Early into the short story, an employee of the company that offers the safaris has a seemingly off topic discussion on politics with Eckels: “People called us up, you know… Said if Deutscher became President they wanted to go live in 1492… Anyway, Keith’s President now” (Bradbury 1). Though in the exposition it provided no development of the plot, after Eckels’ returns from his catastrophic hunt, their conversation is repeated: “‘Who won the presidential election yesterday?’... ‘Deutscher of course! Who else?... We got an iron man now, a man with guts!” (Bradbury 8). The modified presidential election confirms the time travellers’ worries: that Eckels’ mistake would impact the present day. Unknowingly, the “man behind the desk” validates and reveals to the reader the theme’s emergence in the