Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein at a pivotal moment in european history. Europe, a leading force during the industrial revolution occurring at the time, experience a drastic transition from an agricultural society to a modernized, technological based society. While this revolution brought on innovation that proved beneficial, not everyone was completely on board with the forces of industrialization. Mary Shelly, like many of her fellow romantics, was skeptical of the rapid march of industrialization that was changing so many aspects of life. Shelly loved the beauty and power of nature, and feared the possible consequences of industrialization on nature and on humans, who she believed depended on the natural world in mind, body, and soul. From this perspective, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein can be seen as a precautionary tale warning against reckless progress. While Mary Shelly does acknowledge the benefits brought on by the industrial revolution, she does offer some glimpse of where the Industrial revolution may lead if gone unchecked.
Ray Bradbury often wrote stories warning humanity of the dangerous possibilities presented by reckless technological advancement. His stories involve humans struggling between this advancement, and retaining what makes them human. Written and published in 1952, Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder” is no different. In this particular text, Bradbury explores the consequences of action. In “A Sound of Thunder,” which is set in the distant year 2055, time travel allows the common man to experience the past in a way never before thought possible (for a price). Ekels, the main character of the story, pays Time Safari Inc, a time-travel agency, ten-thousand dollars to travel back in time in order to hunt a tyrannosaurus rex. While waiting for the expedition to begin, Eckels and an employee discuss the results of a recent presidential election in which the democratic candidate Keith, the most desirable of the candidates, won the election over Deutscher, a dictator-like candidate described as “an anti-everything man.” Travis, the company's tour guide, then leads Eckels into the time machine and takes them approximately sixty million years into the past. When they arrive, Travis instructs Eckels to only kill the marked dinosaur and to stay on the path, which is an anti-gravity platform that hovers above the ground. As they wait for the tyrannosaurus, the two hear “a sound of thunder” - the footsteps of the approaching dinosaur - and Eckels becomes frozen with terror at the majesty and beauty of the beast. Furious that Eckels is unable to take the killing shot, Travis tells Eckels to return to the time machine at once; however, the tyrannosaurus has already spotted the men, and charges them. Travis quickly dispatches of the beast, and makes his way back to the time machine. Upon returning to the time machine, Travis notices that Eckels boots are covered in mud, indicating that he has stepped off the path. Furious with Eckels, Travis threatens to kill him for disobeying the rules; however, Travis calms down and takes Eckels back to the present day. After arriving back in the year 2055, the men notice that things are strangely different then when they left: the air smells has an off-putting smell to it and the company sign is spelled differently. Eckels then looks down at his shoes and notices that a butterfly is stuck to the bottom, dead. In shock, Eckels asks the company employee (who he had spoken to before traveling in time) who won the election. The employee then happily replies that Deutscher had won the election. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Eckels can only close his eyes as Travis raises his gun. The last thing that Eckels hears before the story ends is “a sound of thunder.”
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While Ray Bradbury's “A Sound of Thunder” may deal with a completely different futuristic scenario, distinct similarities can still be drawn with Frankenstein. The main theme of Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder” is that our choices and actions, no matter how insignificant they may seem, can end up having far more serious consequences than expected. For example, Eckels steps off the antigravity path for only a few moments, yet ends with killing a butterfly, setting forth a series of events that drastically alters the future. Similar to Eckels, Victor Frankenstein makes the decision to neglect his creation, going as far as to insult the monster as it approaches him for the first time; while Victor may have felt his reaction was appropriate, his rejection of the monster set forth events that would lead to the death of his closest family members.
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