Criticizing the Sound of Thunder

Title: Criticizing the Sound of Thunder

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The book ‘A sound Of Thunder’ is a phenomenal piece of work judging by the ideology used in the book. The author, Ray Bradbury, exhibited a high level of creativity the book having been published first in 1952(Bradbury, 52). The story begins by introducing us to a character named Eckel and the aspect of time travel is also introduced to make the reader aware of what the story will entail. This is a good move as the aspect of suspense shouldn’t be overused as it is a short story. It also enables the reader to brace themselves for most of the story. We are also reconciled with the fact that the aspect of time travel is still new and that no one is aware of what the whole adventure is something that no one is familiar with and that no one is quite certain about the safety of the whole trip.

After Eckel the next character we are introduced to Mr. Travis. He is the tour guide to the adventure is being planned. At this point we are also made introduced to another aspect of the story, dinosaurs. Apparently the whole trip to the past is a hunting expedition. Mr. Travis is supposed to tell Eckel ‘what and where to shoot’(Pepper,23). The aspect of the butterfly theory is seen to be emphasized as Eckel is to disobey instructions he would pay heavily for it. The authors exemplary way of expressing himself is seen when he describes the office Eckel is in. He is very specific in his choice of descriptive words.

Eckel is surprised when he see the time machine, still emphasizing on the novelty of the idea of time travel. Shortly after this we are introduced to the theme of politics. We are let into Eckel’s thoughts as we are told about an election that had just been concluded(Bradbury, 52). He expresses his relief to the fact that God Keith had won the elections and expresses his thoughts about him. He says that “he’ll make a good president of the united states of America.” The man behind the desk to the office Eckel has visited expresses similar thoughts. The other contestant is viewed as a potential dictator. According to the words used to describe him, Detscher, the other contestant, we get the notion that a lot of people did not support him.

Eckel is supposed to go back in time to hunt down a dinosaur, specifically a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The dangerousness of the situation is expressed at this point considering the fact that this dinosaur is one of the most ferocious hunters ever(Pepper, 23). We are also told of the danger lurking from the count of people who have been killed in similar adventures in the past. However the offer of an amazing adventure is also put on the table.

The author tries to bring out how the whole aspect of time travel would occur by counting the events of the same. At the same time we are introduced to three other characters: Lesperance, who is Mr. Travis’ assistant and two other hunters, Billings and Kramer. We are also told of Eckel being uncomfortable through the whole journey(Pepper,23). He expresses his lack of confidence in his rifle. Travis assures him and goes further to give him a brief description on how to kill the gigantic beasts. From this we find that he is quite conversant with such issues thus proving his proficiency in his job.

It is believed that altering anything in the past would bring very serious changes in the future. Travis explains this to Eckel who has a hard time trying to understand this concept. Travis explains in detail and from this we see the aspect of the butterfly theory. A quick look into this we find that the author had put a lot of effort into bringing this out. Surprisingly this is a concept that had not been established at the time of the publishing of this story(Bradbury, 52). The animals that are to be hunted are the ones that would have died anyway so as to preserve this belief. The seriousness of the matter is shown when Eckel is not permitted to even aim using his rifle.

The hunt that had been carefully planned is ruined when Eckel’s fear takes the better of him when he saw the dinosaur. He runs off and the others manage to kill it. The tree that was supposed to kill the beast falls on its dead body with finality. Originally there was a path set for the hunters to walk on so as not to step on anything and affect the balance of nature. Eckel steps out of this and towards the end we find out that this had brought certain complications. However before they wrapped up the hunt Eckel is told to remove the bullets from the beast as they can’t be left behind.

When they go back to the future they find that things were jumbled up. It is then that Eckel realizes that he had stepped on a butterfly when he had stepped off the path when they had travelled back in time. The presidential elections results had even changed and now Deutscher had won(Pepper,23). This occurrence infuriates Travis and he cocks his gun. We are left in suspense as a sound of thunder is heard but not explained where it came from.

References

Bradbury, Ray. A sound of thunder and other stories. New York: Harper Perennial, 20051990. Print.

Pepper, Dennis. The young Oxford book of timewarp stories. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.

Smith, Wilbur A.. The sound of thunder. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 20071966. Print.