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Ray Bradbury's 'The Flying Machine'

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“The Flying Machine” by Ray Bradbury, displays his attitude towards controversial and relevant moral dilemmas. Through the creation of the flying machine, Bradbury unveils the main themes of this story; the perilous exploitation of technology, as well as, Sacrificing to maintain a better society. By manipulating literary devices such as; tone, alliteration symbolism, pathetic fallacy, metaphors, similes, and personification, Bradbury thoroughly expresses his viewpoint on various moral issues, while utilizing imagery to create an effective setting and tone. Bradbury begins this story using imagery and pathetic fallacy to present a soothing tone. The narrator describes that land to be “green with rain” (Bradbury 1), also, the morning weather …show more content…

This is evident because, after seeing the capabilities of the flying machine, the Emperor immediately “looks at the great wall of China” (2). This is very significant, because the Great Wall of China symbolizes unity and protection. Throughout history, the Great Wall of China is known for protecting its civilians from enemy invasions. The civilians depend on this wall very dearly; so when the Emperor sees the flying machine, he knows that by inventing the flying machine, his “Splendid snake of stones which writhed with majesty across the land” (2), will no longer be able to protect his empire. Through the use of, alliteration, metaphor, and personification, Bradbury signifies the importance of the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall is metaphorically compared to a snake, because of the Wall’s lengthy structure. Furthermore, the wall is personified for the Wall majestically rests on land, while it watches over its civilians. However, with new technology such as the flying machine, enemies can effortlessly fly over the Great Wall of China and can cause chaos, which leaves the very symbolic wall vulnerable and useless. The inventor did not think about repercussions before developing this creation. He also fails to recognize that

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398 Words | 2 Pages

Imagine you are living in Ancient China during the time of the Qin dynasty, and you are ordered to stop the construction of the Great Wall of China. Then there was an invasion, the Qin wish they didn’t stop the construction. The Qin Dynasty started the construction of the Great Wall and the Han kept it going. This all leads up to how the Great Wall of China outweighed the cost, because the wall protected China, brought glory to China, and made the Qin and Han well known. To start off, the Great wall of China protected China.

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115 Words | 1 Pages

The Great Wall was made by the Qin and Han dynasty's to keep out invaders and other enemies. The benefits did outweigh the cost because it kept your city protected, it was harder for invaders to attack. They also put troops in the frontier areas of the Wall to increase the security level. According to document A it states that "the government will construct walled cities, well protected by high walls, deep moats, catapults, and thorns." This shows that the Qin and Han wanted to make it harder for the mongols to attack and that china wanted to be prepared for when other dangerous situations happen.

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481 Words | 2 Pages

The Great Wall was constructed thousands of years ago. It was built over a span of 2,000 years and measures to be over 5,400 miles long. Over the 2,000 years of its construction, many dynasties would help construct it. Some of them were the Qin and Han dynasties. The wall would act as a barrier to help keep enemy’s out.

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342 Words | 2 Pages

In the text there was a quote that said, “It is also important to note that the beautiful, winding, Great wall that we all have in our minds……” which states many things about glory and beauty. The Great wall can attract new people and contribute to China’s beauty and glory. Even with the Great wall, with the benefits come costs. An extreme ocst that people faced was death.

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661 Words | 3 Pages

The cost of the Great Wall outweighed the benefits due to the fact that it allowed for and caused lots of suffering, harsh working conditions, and socioeconomic disparity. Despite being made to reduce suffering, the building of the Great Wall did the opposite, negatively impacting those who weren’t even working on the wall. In the Qin dynasty, many were sent to work on the wall. It states “Soldiers forced to leave their families and villages for several years” (Document E) Not only did soldiers have to endure the hardship of leaving their families, the families were likely in despair at losing a family member.

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966 Words | 4 Pages

Transported into the future, Ray Bradbury paints a picture in the reader’s head of the Happy Life Home, filled with technology to fit everyday needs. A family, mom, dad, and two kids, start to slowly fall apart because of being surrounded with technology. In The Veldt, Bradbury uses multiple examples of author’s craft such as personification and tone or mood to help prove and point out a theme included in his story. His theme contained in the story is, influencing children with so much technology early on can not only stir up violent thoughts but, can also cause breaks between friend and family relationships. The first author’s craft that can prove this theme to be true is personification.

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768 Words | 4 Pages

Although the Great Wall was built for protection, it did not do it’s job too well. The Xiongnu and Mongols from the north were able to build tall ladders, group together, and charge over a small section of the wall (Cope 163). However despite that fact, the Great Wall was still an important part of the Chinese because the Chinese Emperor was able to think of a method of a series of signal towers, which alerted from far away to the Chinese that a attack was coming and so they they were ready for it (Waldron 63). By having a pile of flammable black smoke powder, on each tower on the Great Wall, the Chinese Emperor was able to deceive an important strategy to make the Great Wall extremely useful (Waldron 64). When signs of a attack was coming,

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785 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Wall is undeniably one of humankind’s most prominent and enduring architectural feats. It is a testament to a people’s ability to plan, organize, create and work diligently together. The wall is a monument to the Chinese civilization, one that came at great costs and through countless

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471 Words | 2 Pages

The Pedestrian Thesis: In a short story titled “The Pedestrian”, written by Ray Bradbury, Bradbury uses the setting to display a lonely, sad mood and person vs society conflict as he battles the lonely streets. Bradbury shows the lonely mood by having the character walk alone in the empty streets. Bradbury wasted no time describing the streets as silent and misty making for a very lonely mood. Mead, the main character, walks along the streets alone with no sign of life, saying “he would see cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where the faintest light is a flicker of a firefly” Bradbury’s quote shows how empty and lonely the streets are by referring to them as a

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1919 Words | 8 Pages

“I don’t try to describe the future, I try to prevent it.” (Bradbury) Bradbury’s depictions of the future, written in the 1950’s, explain his motives for writing in a science fiction style with a heavier emphasis on fiction than science. Ray Bradbury influences people in a way that cannot be mimicked. He used fictional stories to deliver an important message that can be applied throughout time. The message is how our actions affect our future today.

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583 Words | 3 Pages

Paper View I think the Great Wall was not worth it because many people died or starved to death and they lost a lot of time in their life trying to build the wall. The Great wall of China cost too much because they barely got paid and they didn't get much food, but they also didn't have a choice. I think that something interesting about this was that they made the men go to the army and if they didn't they would go to jail until they did. In this essay, I will show how the Great Wall of China was not worth it and why.

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969 Words | 4 Pages

Bradbury believes that technology is a benefactor when it comes to the aid of people’s lives. However, Bradbury is also wary of the unintentional hazards technological innovation may cause, and fears technology that seems to replace human responsibility. Bradbury sums up his doubts, stating that technology should never come at the expense of human life. These ideologies are displayed throughout the following short stories: “The Veldt,” “There Will Come Soft Rains,” and “A Sound of Thunder.” Each story contains the underlying theme that technology must be wielded with great care.

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788 Words | 4 Pages

Science Fiction Themes Science fiction stories will often times stress that technology is mindless, lacking empathy and understanding and so therefore, should not take the place of human thought. Firstly, Ray Bradbury wrote about how technology can be mindless and not have a clear understanding of what is happening, in reality, by writing, “ The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, … But the gods had gone away and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly ” (Bradbury4). The quote defines why technology is mindless by comparing the technology to the attendants and stating that without the gods the attendants will still go on with their ritual even though it is unnecessary.

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754 Words | 4 Pages

This is because there were many advantages. For example, It had kept out unwanted people. What I mean is it had made it very hard for invaders or countries who wanted to start a war; to get through or over the great wall. Another example is the fact that it had saved many crops and valuables from getting stolen from other countries. China has always been known to grow or make things that many other countries like so this wall helped those things from not being stolen or destroyed.

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446 Words | 2 Pages

When Bradbury wrote, he wrote with passion and urgency about all his topics. I have a feeling that his fear was not regarding censorship, it was the people. Bradbury was writing books to help people not become like Mildred and her friends. He wanted people to be like Clarisse and express his/her opinions. He thought that technology was making society dumber and he believed this before reality T.V. came on.

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