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Butterfly Effect Of A Sound Of Thunder

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There are many theories that explain what causes future events to happen. Is it destiny? Is it coincidence? Or is it the so-called “butterfly effect”? A proposition to end this debate is explained in the short story “A Sound of Thunder'' by the author Ray Bradbury. The story is set in 2055 and it follows a group of explorers who take a trip back in time to hunt a Tyrannosaurus Rex. During their trip, it is explained by their guide that they must not step off a set path because otherwise they could affect our future significantly. As this is questioned by the main character, Eckels, the proposition ‘every one of our actions is incredibly significant’ is introduced; this also happens to be the main idea of the short story. One of the guides …show more content…

When the explorers are back in time, they encounter the T-Rex which increases the possibilities of their death. In this story, thunder seems to be a symbol of death since it is mentioned only when Eckels is near death. Thunder is mentioned for the first time when the T-Rex appears followed by an explanation of its threatening presence. Furthermore, the explorers were able to shoot and kill the T-Rex and it is explained that “thunder faded” (Bradbury, 8) along with their chances of dying. The last mention of thunder is in the last line of the story when the sound of the bullet shot that kills Eckels is presented as “a sound of thunder” (Bradbury, 12). Another literary device used to present death is foreshadowing as Eckles' death is foreshadowed at the beginning of the story. Before he goes on the expedition, Eckels asks the guides if they “guarantee I [he will] come back alive” (Bradbury) to which the guides respond that they “guarantee nothing” (Bradbury). This leads the readers to wonder whether or not Eckels will live, and it is eventually revealed that he does come back home alive, but still dies at the end of the story. Bradbury does a good job at subtly keeping the possibility of Eckles’ death in the back of the reader’s mind by using these

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