A Sound of Thunder

- Ray Bradbury
1. Safari: a trip to kill or hunt wild animals especially in east or southern Africa
2. main character: Eckels
safari guide: Mr. Travis
assistant guide: Lesperance
two other hunters
3. Time machine: a machine that brings you to the past or to the future ( it is a
product of science and technology
4. Eckels visits the office of safari
TIME SAFARI, INC.
SAFARI TO ANY YEAR IN THE PAST.
YOU NAME THE ANIMAL.
WE TAKE YOU THERE.
YOU SHOOT IT
He pays the money –ten thousand dollars- for the trip.
 Continued
5. Eckels is warned to obey the guide. He will be fined and might be
punished.
6. He can see the office decoration. It has wires, steel boxes, coloured
lights, sounds of big burning fire, calendars on animal skins, etc
7. When they are waiting, they talk about the presidential election. It is
Keith who won the election over Deutscher.
8. They were going to hunt a dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus Rex, the most
incredible monster in history. This is really a dangerous and hungry
animal. Six safari leaders and a dozen hunters were killed last year.
9. They moved into the machine. Eckels’ face was pale; his jaws stiff. He
felt the trembling in his arms and he looked down and found his
hands tight on the new rifle. The machine displayed the future and
the past. So many suns and moons fled after them. The machine
slowed and then stopped. The sun stopped.
 Continued
10. The guide warned them not to go off the path and not to
shoot any animal except the disappearing ones like dinosaur.
Killing others will have long term pervasive impact.
11. For instant, killing a mouse means killing billions of future
mice. At the same time it is killing of the food of foxes. The
disappearance of the food of the lions. No lions means no
vultures and no insects. The only one remaining caveman will
have no food and disappears. It means the entire future nation
gets lost because the loss of one man is the loss of entire race.
12. After all the instruction and warning, they left the machine
and entered a high and broad jungle. They could see the huge
Tyrannosaurus Rex. The big eyes indicated that it was very
hungry. Eckels regretted coming there to hunt because he
thought no body could kill it.
 Continued
13. Terror stricken, Eckels felt helpless. The monster lunged forward
with a terrible scream. It covered one hundred yards in six seconds.
The rifles jerked up and blazed fire. A windstorm from the beast’s
mouth almost engulfed them in the stench of slime and old blood.
The monster roared, teeth glittering like sun. As they fired again and
again, the monster fell with a thundering. A fountain of blood
flowed from its throat.
14. It is Eckels who had left the metallic path in the Time Machine.
They threatened to leave him there if he would not come on. Then
he climbed on the machine. His shoes were soiled.
15. They came back to the office. Except one thing that is the
signboard in the office, they found no other changes. Eckels found a
dead butterfly in his boot. He requested Travis to bring him back to
life but it was impossible. The story ends with a sound of thunder.
 10. A SOUND OF THUNDER
Ray Bradbury, USA

Literal Comprehension
'A Sound of Thunder' is a science fiction written by an
American writer, Ray Bradbury. This story describes the
negative effect of one event on ecology and environment.
Eckels read an advertisement about 'Time Safari' in a travel
agent's office. Time Safari would take a person to any past
year to shoot any animal. Mr. Eckels paid ten thousand dollar
for the journey
• He started his journey with his safari guide Mr. Travis
and other four people in Time Machine. The machine
took them to the past and to the future. Then Time
Machine landed in a large forest. Mr. Travis told
others about ecosystem. He told them that if a rat or
an insect were killed, it would destroy other animals,
human civilization, and ecosystem ultimately.
• Mr. Travis instructed them to hunt only the red-
marked animals because they would not live longer.
Suddenly, they saw Tyrannosaurus Rex which was
very huge. Mr. Eckels was afraid of this animal and
hid himself in the Time Machine. Other hunters killed
this animal. It made a sound like the fall of mountain.
Then they came to present. When they arrived at
their office, they found some changes there.
• There were also some changes in the letters of the
advertisement. Eckels found a dead butterfly on his
boot. He realized that death of the butterfly had
caused a serious change in the environment. He
regretted for killing it.
 Interpretation

• This story might be trying to focus on the importance

of ecosystem. The writer tells us that destruction of
even a small creature has negative impacts on
animals, human beings, civilization, etc.Therefore, we
shouldn't kill any creature. Instead, each and every
bird and animal must be protected to maintain
balance in the ecosystem.
 Critical Thinking

• This story is beautiful and interesting. It gives us a

good message about human existence, ecosystem,
and animal world. The story focuses on importance
of balanced ecosystem. The story has been able to
capture the readers' attention from the beginning to
the end.
• However, there are some unconvincing points about
the story. For example; i) Is it possible for human
beings to travel back to past through Time Machine?
ii) Can the death of a single butterfly have great
change in the environment? iii) what is the sound of
thunder at the ending of the story?
 Assimilation

• I found this story very interesting and instructive.

After reading this story, I have learnt a new lesson
that a minor event such as the death of butterfly can
have a very dangerous effect on the network of
ecosystem. It means I must be careful not to take any
life away.
 Sound of Thunder
• Modern corporations and thrill seekers are very
selfish. They use the machine to experience the past
and risk their life.
• There is sensitive dependence of every thing on
initial conditions. In a complex system, a seemingly
insignificant event such as the death of butterfly can
have earth shaking consequences.
• The story is an illustration of a ripple effect, i.e. an
unintentional ,long-term, pervasive impact of a
seemingly unrelated event.