Character Analysis Of The Sound Of Thunder

Eckels travelling through time even after learning the risks is another example that shows that all actions have consequences. Eckels wish to kill a dinosaur was about to come true, as he came millions of years ago to get the perfect hunting experience, but it wasn’t what he hoped for.

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.

“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,

In the story “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, foreshadowing is used multiple times to hint at events to come in the future. The story follows Eckels, who paid to go on a safari to the past to kill the legendary Tyrannosaurus Rex. On many different occasions characters hinted at important events that would take place. These foreshadowing lines include Travis, the safari guide, repeatedly telling the hunters to stay on the path, the man behind the desk telling Eckels that disobeying rules would result in a large fine or government action when he returns, and the conversation about the results of the presidential election.

The authors in the narratives, “The Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury and “Nethergrave” by Gloria are each about technology altering the life of the main characters. Although both narratives include many different subjects as the story progresses, both explore the idea of emotions affect the way technology is used. Due to their theme, conflict, and setting, the story “The Sound of Thunder” is a better novel than the narrative “Nethergrave”.

Eckels is an insecure person. At the beginning of the story, Eckels is excited to hunt a dinosaur. He wants to hunt a dinosaur so he will be known as a great hunter.

Now it is clearly visible that both men are very different but they still both ended up making the same mistakes to lead to a bigger event now we can see how they are different. Both hunters were very dedicated to hunting that was their life passion, they had both been on very many hunting trips throughout their life. But they both got bored with hunting small game they both wanted to hunt bigger, better, more dangerous game they both lived for the thrill. For example, in the text, General Zaroff said,”Hunting tigers ceased to interest me some years ago. I exhausted their possibilities, you see. No thrill left in tigers, no real danger. I live for danger, Mr. Rainsford.” (Connell 62) He also said in the story that, “Hunting was beginning to bore me!” (Connell 63). Eckels also wanted to hunt bigger, better, more dangerous game for example in the text, “ The Tyrant Lizard, the most incredible monster in history. Sign this release.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Change is inevitable and can be as quick as a blink of an eye. Although the outcomes may be in one’s favor, it is not certain. In the fictional short story, “A Sound of Thunder,” Ray Bradbury describes how change is significant to life. In the story, Eckels, the protagonist, travels back in time and drastically changes the future by altering the past. Bradbury uses several literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery, and symbolism to illustrate that frivolous decisions will also affect the course of others’ lives.

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