Theme Of Choices In Ray Bradbury's 'A Sound Of Thunder'

Improved Essays
In “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, the author explores the idea that the choices we make can affect others, not just ourselves, in order to show how we as humans deal with the consequences of our choices. Bradbury first introduces this theme when he says that “a touch of the hand and this burning would, on the instant, reverse itself.” This quote shows how small actions can cause much larger consequences. What the author is doing is trying to caution the reader to be aware of how a small action on their part can affect their future. The story progresses until it reaches the point where Eckels, the protagonist, sees the monstrous Tyrannosaurus that he paid to kill. He realizes the severity of the situation and firmly declares “We were

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    The Effect of Making Hard Decisions Every day people face decisions they have to make. Although most times the right solution is obvious, some situations in life are not so simple. The lines between the “right” and “wrong” answer blur together as morals and multiple perspectives begin to play a role. This often causes the person to feel conflicted and trapped since whichever path they choose leads to some sort of regret.…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ray Bradbury uses the archetype of the magic weapon in conjuncture with the character Charles Halloway. The magic weapon can be seen through,”And the largest roar of all, flung at the woman, burnt her hands, seared her hands, or so it seemed,”(Bradbury230),”The crescent moon I have marked on the bullet is not a crescent moon. It is my own smile... Mr. Dark’s illustrations writhed with sick sweat. ”(251), and,” Ha!…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Veldt Response George, the main character in “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury, develops immensely from the beginning of the story to the end. In the beginning, George is inattentive to his family. George and his wife Lydia have a conversation in which Lydia starts to explain to an oblivious George that “the nursery is different now than it was” (Bradbury 1). His wife knows what is going on with the nursery but George does not. Inattentive people usually have no clue what is going on with their family and in the household.…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry Stacey “comes of age” and learns from many trials that make him wiser and grow more as a person. Even though he made many mistakes, it helped him grow by having to solve and deal with the consequences. During the whole novel he learned many lessons such as cutting ties, being the bigger person, and standing up for what is right. Through this process of gaining “thicker skin” he became harsher of a person who in the end, always looks out for his family. Stacy has always been and kind and considerate person even when it came to his “friend” T.J.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scurzynski's "Nethergrave" and Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" are both very well written pieces of science fiction that both focus on scientific technology and how it's affect the main characters' lives. Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" is about a young man named Eckels goes back in time and has to deal with the harsh consequences of his pusillanimous mistake. In Scurzynski's "Nethergrave", the main character, Jeremy, picks a virtual world over his entire life where he feels humiliated, awkward, and relinquished. I think that Scurzynski's and Bradbury's character' personalities are very similar in a few ways. Both characters are portrayed to show some degree of cowardice without having an active part in their respective stories.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The dinosaur with red marked over him at last appeared. Eckels wanted to back out and leave, but they could not. Eckels was told by Travis to go back to the time machine, Eckels did not want to listen to him. From all the fear Eckels accidently steps of the path on the ground of the past. As a result, all actions small or big have a great impact.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Revenge Results in Regret When someone has wronged us, in rage we may decide that revenge is the best choice, but sometimes that choice leaves us regretting what we did. The texts “Revenge: Will You Feel Better?” and “Revenge and the People Who Seek It” have helped me conclude that Cassie and her brothers from “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” were not justified in getting revenge. In “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” the white bus driver drove so that mud or dirt would splash on the black children, and when he did this many children on the bus laughed. Cassie, Little Man, Christopher John, and Stacey took revenge by digging a watery ditch where the bus would drive.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Reviewing the story, “A Sound of Thunder,” on pg. 42, Eckels, who always wanted to play a higher level game of hunting, with the Tyrannosaurus Rex, quickly regretted his decision as soon as he saw the dinosaur. He realized, any slight interruption would result in a butterfly effect, distorting the future. Accidentally kicking some dirt, he changed the future, resulting in Deutscher elected as president in 2055. (Pg. 44 )…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Techonlogy's Effect on the Past and the Future Ray Bradbury's story "A Sound of Thunder" is a stronger work of science fiction than Gloria Skurzynski's "Nethergrave" because it really shows that one mistake can make a huge impact on the future of the world, as well as the great characterization, some points made me feel like I was really in the story. I felt that Bradbury's story was more interesting than Skurzynski's story. It seemed that Bradbury's idea was that one small thing could change the future drastically , in this case in a negative way. In the story the characters use a time machine to travel to the late Jurassic Era. Eckels made a big mistake that cost him his life.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Sound Of Thunder Essay

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    For example, when the group returns from the trip to the past, Eckels notices things that were once minor things change. These would include the spelling of the sign and the president at that time. This was all caused by Eckels stepping on the butterfly in the past. In the story, it elaborates the realization that small things can have great effects. This can be seen when the narrator states, “Eckels felt himself fall into a chair.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the short story “A Sound of Thunder” there was a lot of foreshadow used. It seems like the most used one of all was the exaggerated importance of staying on the path and not doing anything that could possibly change the future. Travis used the phrase “stay on the path” at least four times in the beginning of the story. This is a huge hint that Eckels would possibly go off the path later on in the story, and also because he seemed to be unconvinced that it was a big deal saying things like “So what” and “Why not.”…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Book Banning is the attempt to remove material. Books are removed for their explicit content. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor was banned for racism and explicit language. To challenge a book means to try to remove a book (Crum, 1). Over 11,300 books have been challenged.…

    • 1515 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone has courage, but sometimes we don’t use it. (Theme Statement) In the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear my cry, Mildred Taylor uses Cassie Logan as an example of a young 9 year old girl that has to stand up for her convictions in many problems in her family. Cassie proves courage when she goes to get Papa to tell him what happened to T.J. Avery, and when facing rival, Lillian Jean Simms. (Thesis Statement) Cassie`s actions proved that she was a sassy and outspoken girl, who loved her family and had a deep respect for the land they lived on.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Credo Poem Analysis

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The poem “Credo” by Andrew Zawacki, while this is a self-reflecting piece, he also shows his naturist interpretation of the world. You can understand his deep feeling for the subject, that this isn’t some piece he wrote over a protracted time, this was a short surge of emotion that impeccably captured his thoughts and state of mind. He makes it very clear what his message is, even if it is not seen at face value. The poem had many dark tones, they were needed to show the true implication of the writing.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Galactic life form, space, advanced technology, and major impact on the civilization. All of these falls under the category science fiction. Science fiction is literature expressing our imagination while being guided by logic. When you think about science fiction. I's most likely you’re relating it to Stars Wars or Star Trek, but there are other great examples for science fiction like the movie Dragon Ball Z; Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays