A Sound of Thunder, Essay Example

A Sound of Thunder is an interesting story of time travel where people can travel back to the time when dinosaurs existed and hunt them for fun. The company that makes the time travel possible does not guarantee for the safety of the time travellers neither for their return. The integral part to the time travel is the strict instructions that were given to the time travellers and the behaviors that were expected from them.  A part of which is that they are not to touch anything once they land and that they will only to shoot when their guide told them to. Eckels, one of the characters in the story, asked about the gravity of that given instruction. Eckels was told that when the natural processes are interrupted, it will cause a shift in the events pertaining to the future. However, the question is whether or not it will implicitly reveal the consequences of the misuse of advanced technology. Meaning to say, one wrong move might change the course of future and might also cause some irreversible consequences to it.

Hence, great precautions were put in place in order to secure the integrity of the past. They build floating walkways to avoid interfering with the lifeforms. They also retrieved bullets that were used to kill dying dinosaurs. However, Eckels got scared of the sound of thunder that was let out by the hunted T. Rex that caused him to step off the path and disturbed the integrity of the past by returning with a dead butterfly on the bottom of his footwear. But will it cause a change in the course of the future?

In this sense, the characters’ misuse of the advanced technology that allowed them to travel back in time has an implicit consequence for the future. This is due to the fact that the small mishap of accidentally killing a butterfly had massive consequences for the future. This is supported when the traveller explained how travelling back in time can be bad for the future. Bradbury stated that “a time machine is finicky business. Not knowing it, we might kill an important animal, a small bird, a roach, a flower even, thus destroying an important link in a growing species”(3). This only speaks of the danger of the time travel. It is a known fact that every little thing in the world plays a role in the existence of every living species in the world. Every single thing is connected with each other. A slight change can affect the future. For example, the butterfly on the bottom of Eckels’ shoes might be the last kind of its species. Hence, the future might not be able to see that kind of specie anymore. Or in a bigger spectrum, it could mean that a different president is elected from that of the person that was supposed to win before they travel back in time. As Eckels pondered about the dead butterfly on the bottom of his shoe, he asked “who won the presidential election yesterday” (11). With something as trivial as the death of a butterfly, the course of the election shifted. Clearly, everything is connected.

All the changes that happened in the story can be attributed to the death of that butterfly. “Beyond this room, beyond this wall, beyond this man who was not quite the same man seated at this desk that was not quite the same desk”tells of the inner sense of change- the first indication that something has changed. As the words on the sign up on the wall were spelled differently, Eckles realized the ramification of walking off of the path. Once Eckel stepped on that butterfly, he was never the same person again.

The advancement of technology has a huge impact in the evolution of men. The truth of the matter is that technology changes people. It changes the way people interact with each other. Take for example the evolution of smart phones, video games, and computers. Slowly, people have changed as they use these technological advances. People cannot part from their phones nowadays. People do not interact with each other the way they used to back in the day. Children do not go out to play anymore and would rather spend endless hours playing video games than be with friends and explore the nature or spend time with their families. Such technological advance made people so busy that they no longer have time for each other. People connected with families and friends through texting and chatting without realizing that interpersonal communication and interaction is far more important in establishing a strong relationship than the mere typing from a computer or a cellphone.

It is true that technology helps people. Things that the human physical capabilities cannot do can be accomplished with the utilization of technology. It increases efficiency, opens doors for opportunities, supports ubiquity and freedom, and upsurges the changes of evolution. However, with the increase utilization of technology, people and the society in general became very dependent to it that humans no longer think before they act. Everything is becoming more fast-paced with each passing day. People become impatient and want things to be done instantly. Why not? The society has the technology for everything.  However, it only goes to show that humanity have all the technological resources they need for all the wrong reasons and for all the wrong purposes.

Moreover, it can be seen that the advancement in technology has caused the destruction of the environment. It has become the weapons of environmental destruction. Take for example the state of China. The country is known as the factory of the world as their advance technology allows for the production of all the products that the whole world uses. But then again, it has caused the country its environment (Liu, 5).  There is high rate of greenhouse gas emissions, the air is polluted, the land is toxic and the water is contaminated (Liu, 12). People are wearing masks to prevent them from inhaling the polluted air. The situation is brought about by the factories using advance technology for its production. Yes, the country is ahead when it comes to technology but their environment is dying. Just like in the sound of a thunder where it is noted that “Eckels stood smelling of the air, and there was thing to the air, a chemical taint so subtle, so slight, that only a faint cry of his subliminal senses warned him it was there”. Eckels smelled the hint of technology in the air. The smell of chemical in the air refers to the effect of advance technology in the environment in the form of pollution. When he travelled back in time, he was able to experience fresh air and the natural beauty of the undisturbed nature. The moment he came back to the future, he noticed the difference in the air. It is indeed an industrialized world.

Technology is interesting. Its advancement is beneficial to the people but the lack of its proper utilization will cause destruction more than benefits and advantages to the society. It makes people idle and disconnected. However, it cannot be concluded that advancement in technology is all bad. Rather, it is a double-edged sword where one side can be harmful and the other side can provide protection when used appropriately. This is the very concept of A Sound of Thunder. Advanced technology is beneficial but when it is misused, it can change everything and cause problems.

Work Cited

Class Notes. The Short Story. Engl210.AUK.Fall Semester 2015.

Liu, Zhu. China’s Carbon Emissions Report 2015. Cambridge, MA: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.