ipl-logo

Symbolism In The Machine Stops

1817 Words8 Pages
Virginia Woolf once wrote, “It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.” It can be difficult to distinguish reality from illusion, especially when that illusion is the basis of one’s life. Although difficult to abandon, believing in a false reality comes with consequences, whether apparent or not. The dystopian short story by E. M. Forster, The Machine Stops, reflects the dangers of accepting a falsity of truth, while Plato’s Allegory of the Cave explores the dichotomy between knowing and not knowing, both addressing the internal and external struggle of humans to reconcile those things. Warning humanity of ignorance, both authors use their text to illustrate that it is the duty of the people to question perceived truths and seek the potential for different, transcendent perspectives in order to avert the dangers for the self and society that arise when one relies on an illusion. The settings of these stories contribute to their overarching themes using symbolism and providing parallels to the real world. In The Machine Stops, the protagonists live in a dystopian society, whereby the admission of the masses enables technological totalitarian control. Regarding this circumstance, Kuno claims, “Cannot you see, cannot all you lecturers see, that it is we that are dying, and that down here the only thing that really lives in the Machine? . .The Machine develops - but not on our lies. The Machine proceeds - but not to our goal. We only exist as the blood corpuscles that
Open Document