A Sound Of Thunder Setting Analysis

The Foundation of a Story
In “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, the setting is slightly peculiar. The story takes place in the future and the past. It begins and ends in the year 2055 at a time travel hunting business, however, the majority of the story takes place millions of years before, during the time of the dinosaurs. Throughout the story, the setting sets the tone, motivates the characters actions, and leads to the theme.
The setting describes the time and place of the story, whereas, the tone is the attitude of the story. When a setting is dark and mysterious, the tone tends to be dark and mysterious as well. In “A Sound of the Thunder” the setting is rather spooky and unknowing. Imagine that two kids are playing Hide and Seek and

The setting “sets the stage” for all the events that will happen throughout the story. The theme of “A Sound of Thunder” is something small can have a big impact. In other words, one small action can have big consequences. Throughout the whole story, the setting allows the theme to build. When Travis, Eckels, and the other men first arrive in the past Travis is warning them of the consequences that could come if they step off the path and enter the jungle. Travis believes that killing even one mouse would change the future (Bradbury 140). Eckles, however, needed to be convinced. Travis explained that if one mouse died, all the future generations of that mouse would die, which would lead to all the animals who ate those mice to possibly die as well (Bradbury 140). Travis was successful in convincing Eckles, however, when the meet the dinosaur Eckles loses control of his actions and leaves the path. When the others discover that Eckles left the path, they hope all he did was kick up some dirt. Although when they return to the future and it has changed, they learn that Eckles had killed a butterfly. By killing something so small, and seemingly pointless, the whole future was different and the consequences were irreversible. The path in the setting was meant to prevent any changes in the future from occurring, but by stepping off it, it created the overall theme of the story. The Setting of “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury impacts the story tremendously. The setting determines the tone and mood of the story. It also motivates the characters to make the choices that they do. Along with motivating the characters, the setting leads to the overall theme of the story. The setting is the strong foundation that the rest of the story is built upon. Without a setting, there could be no