A Sound Of Thunder | Four Levels

Four Levels Of "A Sound Of Thunder". "A Sound Of Thunder" was written by Ray Douglas Bradbury (1920-2012). Ray Douglas Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920, Waukegan, Illiois, U.S. and died on June 5, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. He was an American author best known for highly imaginative science-fiction short stories and novels that blend social criticism with an awareness of the hazards of runaway technology. Bradbury also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including 'Moby Dick[2]' and 'It Came from Outer Space'. Many of his works were adapted to comic book, television and film formats.

"A Sound Of Thunder" is a science fiction that discusses a hunter, named Eckels. It is an imaginative story of leader named Keth who has won the presidential election the previous day. Defeating another candidate Deutsche Eckels feels nervous in the time machine, and when he sees the Tyrannosaurus, he comes to the conclusion that killing the dinosaur is impossible. His guide, Travis is trying to kill the dinosaur himself. Eckels feels panic and turns off the path. The two guides kill the dinosaur, but Travis is furious when he sees Eckels' muddy boots. Travis warns to leave Eckles in the past unless Eckles removes the bullets from the dinosaur's body. While returning to the present, Eckles sees the changes. English is spelled phonetically; people and buildings are different also. Looking at his boots, Eckles finds a dead butterfly.

The death of the butterfly causes the changes. He requests Travis to take him back into the past, but Travis refuses. The story at the end says: "There was a sound of thunder". It means chaos, war, fight, etc.

Interpretation:

The American writer Ray Bradbury's science fiction-story "A Sound Of Thunder" deals with safaris to year in the past, highlighting the natural balance on the earth. It is a safari through time in the time machine. It deals with going millions of years back in the past time and experience the thrill of hunting. The writer tries to show that little error in the biosphere at present will cause great impact, imbalance in the entire future. This story can be interpreted in many ways. One interpretation might involve a critique of modern society where there is unfair competition of politics. here Bradbury might be asking what kind of society would allow heartless corporations and weak minded thrill-seekers to risk its own future. Another interpretation of this story would invoke the importance of tiny creatures to very large and fierce animals. Butterfly effects means, in the complex life cycle and the biosphere, a seeming insignificant event such as even the death of a small creature like butterfly can have earth shakening consequences. We can again view this story as an interpretation of an unintentional long-term and pervasive impact of seemingly unrelated event. The writer here may be warning us that if we step on even an insect or even seemingly insignificant animal or if we commit a small error in the biosphere of life-cycle on earth, it can upset the balances and it can have devastating impact till millions of years ahead. We have no options left except remorse ourselves. If we shoot any creature then it will impact our life also or we cannot live if we kill the other creatures. Every insect, animal or human has own value and all are interdependent each other.

Critical Thinking:

This story is a little different than other literary ones. It has alightly a diverse mode of expression. It is a little difficult to understand it's theme but it is clear that it emphasizes on the importance of every creatures on the earth. This story is a science fiction which is very interesting and suggestive about the importance of creatures and a balanced environment. The writer realistically shows that a little error in the biosphere or life-cycle at present will cause great impact and imbalance in the entire life history, civilization races, species and biosphere of the future. That will be dangerous for human life also. This story also presents a critique of modern society as well as the butterfly effect caused by a seemingly minor error on the biosphere. However, some ideas of the story are complex and not clear; it has a good message for human beings. It is possible to travel even back to ancient time, not through space but through time in a Time Machine. Even the death of single butterfly can have earth shaking consequences. Therefore, we should not kill any creatures either large or tiny.

Assimilation:

I find the story very interesting. It warned me about the importance of creatures and balance of biodiversity. After reading this story I came to know the bad activities of the modern society and their effects in human life. It gave me a good message about the "butterfly effect" of their carelessness towards biosphere and ecology.

I came to realize the importance of species in nature and our responsibilities. According to this message this story conveys I also like to involve in the activities of nature conservation.