A Sound Of Thunder And Being Prey

Have you ever had a “near-death” experience? In the two stories “Being Prey” and “A Sound of Thunder” the main characters setting, conflicts, and traits bring them into this experience. The two stories while being very diverse, also have several similarities throughout their plots that bring them to their ultimate conflict. The settings of “Being Prey” and “A Sound of Thunder” are similar in the way that they both have a deadly effect on the main characters. In “Being Prey” the author Val Plumwood ventures out into an “unfamiliar” marsh that was being struck by a “severe storm”, this imposes an ominous, deadly effect on the setting. If Val had not gone out during such a dangerous time, the outcome of her story may have been different. In “A Sound of Thunder” Eckels travels to a setting with a very perilous “monster”, a T-Rex. This monster also imposes the same deadly effect as it did in “Being Prey”, especially on the setting. Both stories show several instances contributing to the dangerousness of their settings.

Both of the stories’ main characters possess the internal thoughts of curiosity prior and during their trips, and if that feeling of curiosity outweighs their fears. When Plumwood decides to go exploring on a marsh, even when a “severe storm” is occurring, her curiosity is outweighing her fears of the dangerous journey. Similarly, Eckels still decides to go on his safari when he underestimates the difficulties of the trip, like the fact that several people had died while on the hunt. The conflict develops through curiosity because both of the characters do not know what they are getting themselves into, and later find this fact bringing them into their main