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Rarely does an adventure revolve around the treasure hunt ahead alone or a romance relies merely on how attractive the sweethearts are. Rather any successful story instinctively acts around a latent fabric serving as a purpose that truly defines that story’s essence beyond its surface. The theme is that purpose, that sense of meaning. However, to define a theme, one must look not only beyond the critical idea itself, but how a theme adds greater dimensions to what tale it is attached to. Acclaimed author Ray Bradbury, famous for works including “Fahrenheit 451,” and “The Illustrated Man,” continuously reveals his themes in a skillful manner that identifies what is important while also issuing each of his stories’ greater power, especially in “A Sound of Thunder.” However, in this short story, Bradbury notably draws upon multiple transcendent concepts to create a far more compelling narrative than otherwise. By cleverly evoking the essential themes through concepts of cause and effect, authoritarianism, and the Pandora’s box that is technology, Bradbury satisfies the reader’s desire for entertainment while also contributing to the story’s influence and generating a more thrilling narrative.
The foremost theme Bradbury attempts to convey through his character’s careless behavior ties into the Butterfly Effect, which asserts that even the smallest of deeds might eventually have an immense impact on the future. Bradbury in writing “A Sound of Thunder” envisioned a futuristic society with the fantastic ability to travel recreationally into the past- at the risk of altering the course of time and space. Bradbury throughout the story elaborates that one simple action can bring severe consequences, “He [suggests] an individual needs to think carefully about their actions before venturing into a task that may be too much for them” (Dermot 1). Eckles before stepping into the time machine receives a fateful warning to not act in any way against what he had been instructed, “We don’t want to change the Future. We don’t belong here in the Past… 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” (Bradbury 7). Bradbury elaborates that one simple action can bring severe consequences, “He [suggests] an individual needs to think carefully about their actions before venturing into a task that may be too much for them” (Dermot 1). Eckles by stepping on a butterfly 65 million years ago discovers this when he returns to a world radically different from his own. Ultimately Eckles paid for his actions with his life, as the author transforms conventional science fiction into a parable about consequence. Bradbury’s theme based on cause and effect not only serves as a cautionary tale but adds greater depth as well as creates a more fascinating narrative.
Although “A Sound of Thunder” is set in the year 2055, author Ray Bradbury inserts conflicts of when the story was written in 1952 to express the theme of how authoritarianism threatens Western free society. The author goes further as Bradbury portrays an America governed by a German dictatorship. The story itself opens with the outcome of the anxious presidential election the day before, where Eckles exhibits relief that candidate Keith was elected and not Deutscher; a stereotypical German name pitted against a common American one. Deutscher is described as the “anti-everything man, a militarist, anti-Christ, anti-human, anti-intellectual” to which Eckles replies he “might be here now running away from the results. Thank God Keith won instead” (Bradbury 4). By doing this, Bradbury intentionally raises the fear of the Nazi regime taking over to force the reader to imagine a world dominated by Nazi Germany. He also calls to attention the threat of the uncertain Cold War against the Soviet Union, “The primary focus was on meeting the communist challenge. The president declared that the United States was confronted with a ‘terrible threat of aggression’ (Editors 1). The characters of also the story share uneasiness with the idea of altering the course of history that would affect the future, specifically Western culture and America in particular. When historical figures are mentioned by the safari guide, like Christ, Moses, Napoleon, and Alexander the Great, not one of them comes from other parts of the world. However, ultimately that future and democracy are destroyed when Eckels strays from the path. In its place is a world of authoritarianism, a reality where Deutscher won the election, which causes Eckles to drop to his knees. Such a drastic shift causes the story to become much more complex and imaginative, but more importantly, it demonstrates the terror of authoritarianism poses a grave danger to Western civilization.
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