A Sound of Thunder Story by Ray Bradbury - Book Report/Review Example

 “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury “A Sound of Thunder” is a short story by Ray Bradbury, which involves time travelling to the past. Dr. Travis Ryer is the guide of the expedition team that consists of Eckels, Kramer and Billings. Charles Hatton is the owner of the Time Safari Company that provides the time machine for the rich businessmen to visit the past 60,200,055 years ago. The story that starts and ends in 2055 has lots of warnings to humans. The story portrays the connection between the past and the present by warning human beings about their behaviors. Bradbury warns human beings against destroying the environment to avoid the negative impacts in the future. He does so by presenting a story that illustrates how small actions can result in irreversible repercussions in the future. For example, he has presented Eckels who killed a butterfly unknowingly during their visit to the past to hunt the dinosaur known as the Tyrannosaurus Rex. As a result, Eckels disrupted how the past was supposed to unfold and caused tsunamis and emergence of fierce creatures in Chicago. It seems that despite Bradbury’s use of figurative language in the story, man has not heeded his warnings (Bradbury 25). The global warming effect in the world today can be linked to the actions of the past as the story suggests (Don 87). Bradbury’s predictions are quite accurate on the environment account, but the existence of ape-lizards and killer vines are just exaggerations (Priest et al. 63). In order to distinguish the thunder of storms, the dinosaur’s roar and gunfire, it is important to describe the “thunders” while incorporating the specific characters involved in the occurrence of these thunders. Use of thunders is a form of figurative language that Bradbury uses to create images in the viewers’ minds. Eckels is the character mainly involved in “thundering” scenes and actions. For example, while in the desert, Eckels describes their encounter with the dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus Rex) as “a sound of thunder.” The dinosaur’s view is frightening and scaring as Eckels recounts. This is the thunder of dinosaur’s roar that signifies how scaring it is to disrupt the course of evolution (Debus, Glut, and Berry 90). The thunder of gunfire and storms occurs concurrently when Travis and his team furiously attack the dinosaur in the jungle. Eckels heard the gunfire cracks as Travis took down the giant beast. As it fell, there is a thunder of storm created by the cracking sound of the falling tree branch on top of the giant beast. At the end of the story, Travis kills Eckels using the gun riffles and all what Eckels heard is a sound of thunder. The relevance of these thunders is to warn the readers and viewers about the dangers of destroying the environment or changing things without considering the future (Don 89). The main theme of the story is the conflict between man and his environment. Additionally, the events of the story portray conflicts between the characters and the natural environment. In the first events of the story, Eckels develops the conflict between human beings by disagreeing with Travis. This follows after Eckels asks why they are given strict rules during their visit to the past (Bradbury 28). Travis responds to him in an astonishing manner, drawing examples of how killing a single mouse in the desert would cause irreparable repercussions to the present. Travis reminds the team that they must use the identified specific paths in the jungle and avoid changing anything in the past, carrying anything back, or leaving anything behind. However, Eckels strays away from the Time Safari paths and passes over the grass on his way to the time machine. Unfortunately, he breaks the rules by killing a mosquito. As a result, he disrupts the course of evolution and the present world starts to change. Eckels is seen as a character who builds up the conflict of man and his environment. Travis, on the other hand, feels bad about Eckels’ actions and threatens to kill him immediately he breaks the rules. Travis is aware of the consequences of this conflict while Eckels develops it as he tries to reveal the secrets. At the end of the story, Travis takes the action of killing Eckels to avoid future conflicts between man and his environment and at the same time teach others how serious it is to disrupt nature. Based on Bradbury’s story, people of the modern world should try to protect and conserve the environment for their benefit and that of future generations. This can be achieved by increasing public awareness on the long-term effects of environmental degradation. The interconnection between the past, present and the future has enabled Bradbury to emphasize the fact that a small decision can result to massive effects. For example, the killing of the small butterfly that resulted to growth of killer vines and emergence of lizards in Chicago state. This way, the author magnifies the potential impacts that follow when one destroys the environment (Priest et al. 67). In consideration of the modern world, man should reduce emission of harmful gases and contamination of water resources to avoid the long term effects in future (Nünning 143). It is interesting how the fiction story “A Sound of Thunder” begins and ends in the year 2055. The society depicted in the story can be compared to the modern society in various aspects. The fiction story portrays existence of strange beings, unlike the modern society that has normal human creatures. The two societies have a similarity since they are both associated with environmental changes such as global warming. Travis and his team return to the present immediately after killing the dinosaur. Their visit using the time machine significantly changed the society. For instance, immediately they exit the machine, Eckels smells something strange in the air and realizes that something has changed after he killed the butterfly unknowingly. The temperatures rose and waves were ranging high in the oceans (Bradbury 36). It is evident that Eckels’ actions changed the past by killing the butterfly and then came back with it to the future on the bottom of his shoes. As a result of Eckel’s actions, the present society was altered in that a different man won the presidency of the US. Bradbury highlights the theme of conflict between man and his environment in order to send his message to the audience. I think Bradbury’s message is to warn human beings about the consequences of disrupting nature. He does so by creating the story involving a visit to the past in order to clearly illustrate how small actions can lead to massive effects. In addition, he uses figurative language to magnify the potential impacts that small actions can have in the future. You will hear “a sound of thunder” when you make a mistake and destroy the surroundings at the stake of future generations. The fact that this fiction story features strange events makes the readers imagine how serious it would if they make errors as Eckels did. As stated before, the interconnection between the past, present and future enables Bradbury to make his audience understand his message and apply what they learn in the real world (Bradbury 39). The message in Bradbury’s story is still relevant today because man has continued to destroy his environment despite the warnings made before by writers, poets and others. I suggest that man be taught regularly through literature and media on how to conserve and protect his environment. The word repercussion is relevant in explaining the message in Bradbury’s story. The term repercussion is defined in the dictionary as the often indirect influence, result or effect produced by an action or event. In the sci-fi story, Travis warns the visiting team of the irreversible repercussions that would follow if they break the rules, for example, by changing the past. Eckels’ action of killing the butterfly and carrying it has significant repercussions to the present in that killer vines and environmental changes occur in Chicago. The word repercussion is an integral part of the message because it defines the consequences brought about by environmental degradation. Works Cited Bradbury, Ray. A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print. Debus, Allen Glut, Donald and Berry, Mark F.. Dinosaurs in Fantastic Fiction: A Thematic Survey. Jefferson (N. C.: McFarland, 2006. Print. Don, C B. From Science Fiction to Science Facts: Companion Study Guide to the Science-Fiction Novel Accused by Facet-Eyes. New York: Sterling Ter Libra Publishing, 2005. Print. Nünning, Ansgar. Turning Points: Concepts and Narratives of Change in Literature and Other Media. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012. Print. Priest, Christopher, Robert Sheckley, Peter Phillips, Poul Anderson, Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, Robert Silverberg, Marta Randall, Vogt A. E. Van, and Robert Silverberg. Trips in Time: Nine Stories of Science Fiction. S.l: Wildside Press, 2007. Print. Read More