A Sound Of Thunder Analysis

Think about a piece of gum. Let’s say that you’re done chewing it, so you spit it out on the ground. It’s nothing. Then think about a billion people that do the same thing. Overtime, all those wads of gum suddenly get tossed out and end up in the ocean, and kill about every marine animal you can think of. All of a sudden, you think, and you realize that the one tossed away piece of gum is a big deal, and that it had a large impact on the world. In the short story “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, Eckels, a hunter, wants to go hunting, except in the past. He goes to Time Safari, Inc., a time travel company, and requests to hunt a dinosaur. He then goes to the past, accompanied by four hunters and confronts the dinosaur. After Eckels chickens out and a long struggle, the dinosaur is defeated. After they return to the present world, Eckels finds out he has killed a butterfly. He asks the official what happened and he then realizes that he has altered the course of history forever. The theme of “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury is that if you’re not careful, small decisions can have very unpredictable outcomes. This can be proven by when Eckels went off of the Path, when Travis explains the rules of the Hunt, and when they reach present time and realize the drastic changes.

A Sound of Thunder is a short story written by Ray Bradbury which belongs to the genre of science fiction. The story set in A.D.2055 when time travel is possible, this is the story of a travel agency, Time Safari Inc., that arrangeed hunting trips back in time to hunt dinosaurs. It is also a futuristic story about how changing a small thing can result in a huge change somewhere down the timeline. In this case, a nervous hunter, Eckels, stepped off the trail, and stepped on a butterfly. The historical repercussions of the death of a single butterfly, compounded by millions of years of effects.

Ray Bradbury is an author used to writing against the norm. Many of his literary works are written in such a way to make the reader think, such as his most famous work Fahrenheit 451, which was a book whose imagery was created entirely by the reader’s perspective. Bradbury (1994) switches up the literary device with ‘A Sound of Thunder’. A Sound of Thunder focuses on three men on a hunting expedition through a time machine, hoping to hunt a T-Rex and proclaim themselves true big game hunters of time. The Expedition goes awry, and one man, Eckels, panics and runs back to the time machine. In the process of his flight, he tramples a butterfly. The other men shoot and kill the dinosaur, and Eckels is sent back to retrieve the bullets from its corpse. The hunting guide learns of Eckels’ misstep, and upon returning to the present, they realize Eckels changed it all for the worse. The expedition ends in a sound of thunder, the fate of Eckels unknown, but assumed. Bradbury uses imagery and diction masterfully in this short story, but a very large focus throughout the story is foreshadowing. Foreshadowing, or the alluding to of events that will eventually take place in the story, remains a centerpiece in Bradbury’s work. How does Bradbury use foreshadowing to bring about a perspective change in the reader?

Whatever you do will have an effect in the world. In the story, The Sound of Thunder, by Ray Bradbury, Eckels, the main character, experienced this message in a very violent way. Although Eckels was brave, curious and courageous beyond measure, he is far from admirable because his selfish and impulsive behaviors made him unaware of his surroundings in ways that drastically harm others and the world around him. Eckels is not a good character in this story because of his bad acts. Ray Bradbury is basically expressing a good idea in a more elaborated version of it. He is saying that all actions have consequences. Eckels showed that by not thinking before acting and not trusting his power or instincts.

I was walking down a neighborhood street at night and passed a house that had a yellow sign that read “Beware of Dog”. I didn’t see a dog so I assumed that the dog was inside or taking a nap somewhere. A few houses down I hear a deep evil growl; so, I slowly turn around and see a pit-bull. The monster was the size of a man, his teeth where gruesome and yellow, with long canines on each side of his mouth. Drool was dripping from his mouth as if he had rabies. Eyes as black as the night itself, glaring directly at me. It’s evil growl, low toned but load. Ears stood up pointing to the sky. I was afraid and I didn’t move, so I said, “Here boy!” The dog comes closer at a steady pace as I stood there planning my escape route. As he approached me I reached my hand out to pet him. That was one of the nicest dogs I have ever met. My story is an example of how literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery and personification build up the mood. In the case of my story, the mood was suspenseful as if the dog was going to attack me. In “A Sound of Thunder,” Ray Bradbury uses imagery, personification and foreshadowing to set the mood.

There is themes which is the central idea of a story and then there is universal themes. A universal theme is an idea primarily about an aspect of human life that umbrellas several other stories. Universal themes can be identified through literary devices such as symbolism, metaphors, foreshadowing, and . The stories that will be focused on to recognize universal themes are “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury and “The Interlopers” by Saki. “A Sound of Thunder” is a science fiction short story where a man with the name of Eckels hires a time travel company so he can go back and kill dinosaurs. “The Interlopers” is a suspenseful short story that mainly centers on the plot in which two men who call themselves Georg and Ulrich are destined to kill each other since their past generations hated each other. Both stories main themes are completely different however, they both show multiple universal themes. The universal themes in “The Interlopers” and “A Sound of Thunder” represented by literary devices are all events and actions are important and everyone has limits.

Stephen Covey once said, “We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions.” Stephen Richards Covey was an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey states that we have the right to make our own choices, but it is our responsibility to face the consequences. In many stories, characters make choices, that impact their lives and then have to accept the outcome, whatever it may be. One of the themes that Ray Bradbury explores in the short story, A Sounder of Thunder is that all actions have consequences, big and

“We’re here to give you the severest thrill a real hunter ever asked for. Travelling you back sixty million years to bag the biggest game in all of Time”(Bradbury 224). The thought of travelling back in time just to shoot a prehistoric beast of the Past is just that; a thought. People now can’t even imagine what it would be like to look a ferocious dinosaur in the eyes, but it may happen one day in the Future. Ray Bradbury paints this picture for us in his incredible story about this unbelievable mystery with figurative language and personification. “A Sound of Thunder” follows a big game hunter, Mr. Eckels, through a Time Safari of the Future and how he completely changes the world around him by disregarding the dangers of Time Travel,

The point of view in the story is the third person because there is a narrator who

In the story “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, Eckels arrives at Time Safari, the first ever company to take people back in time. Eckels is told they will be going back in time to hunt a tyrannosaurus. Travis his guide and the other men get into the time machine with Eckels. Travis explains how critical all of the rules are and how one small change in the past can change the future drastically. They arrive and find their dinosaur, Eckels gets scared so he runs away falling off the path and killing a butterfly. Travis yells at Eckels and makes him clean up everything. Such as removing bullets from the dinosaur. They arrive in the future and find because of Eckels changing the past, the future has changed all for the worst. Travis is so angry he kills Eckels. In the book one lesson we can find is “One small change can make a big difference.”

Imagine a world with a public time machine. No license, no objections. But you will have to know what you going into because whatever you do will have an effect in the world. In the story, The Sound of Thunder, by Ray Bradbury, Eckels, the main character, experienced this message in a very violent way. Although Eckels is brave, curious and courageous beyond measure, he is far from admirable because his selfish and impulsive behaviors made him unaware of his surroundings in ways that drastically harm others and the world around him. Eckels is not a good character in this story because of his bad acts. Ray Bradbury is basically expressing a good idea in a more elaborated version of it. He is saying that all actions have consequences. Eckels

In order to know who the protagonist of a story is, it is essential to know what a protagonist is. According to Literary Devices, “A protagonist is the central character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, novel, or any other story”. This means that the protagonist is the main character of the story. The story revolves around this character and the conflict affects them. A protagonist is usually an honorable and sincere person who looks out for others. For a character to be the protagonist, the audience must be able to relate to that character. They also have to have a flaw that the audience can personally connect to.

Millions of years ago, hunting was a way of life, a way of survival. When cavemen killed an animal, they used every single piece of the animal and made certain to let none go to waste. In present day, hunting is viewed as a game. Many people hunt for the enjoyment that the adrenaline rush gives them. In this day and age, people can no longer hunt Saber-Tooth tigers, wooly mammoths, or dinosaurs, but what if there was a way to make that possible? A Sound of Thunder is a futuristic story of hunting prehistoric creatures. They could use a time machine to go back in time and hunt any animal they could dream of. The animals are carefully chosen before the hunt. If someone leaves minute traces of himself, the whole universe changes its course. A

A strong protagonist is some you should understand as if you were in the book. The protagonist goes on a journey to play a part in our lesson, they are the key to the problem being solved. A character shows a view through a different eye, which can let you open your brain for a stronger set of ideas. They should be our heros if our real life world is not perfect. They shows us how to view the world differently. We become one with protagonist and experience the changes of their personality. The protagonist brings us to a different world which we develope our second self. They allow us to think through a different eye and be placed in different shoes. The protagonist is usually the hero in which we claim examples by. According to Rekenthaler on page 8, line 70-71,“we become one and the same with the story's protagonist”, they set our examples to prepare us for the real world. Lisa Cron showed that on page 17, line 54-56, “Writers can change the way people think by giving them a glimpse of life through their characters’ eyes.” An argument can consist of two or more parts, but both characters both believe that the other is wrong. If they switched positions their opinion could change and they would view the argument from a different eye. Story can transport you into the other person's view without actual

Benjamin Franklin once said “For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, For the want of a horse the rider was lost, For the want of a rider the battle was lost, For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost, And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.” This quotes shows how even the minuscule actions in nature can have monumental consequences.