Made-up speech for Ray Bradbury’s ‘A Sound Of Thunder’

A Story by suuyuwriteyunu

Pretend Ray Bradbury won a prize for “A Sound Of Thunder”, and you are the award giver.

There was a sound of thunder.

Then a pair of heavy, giant footsteps, or perhaps a million tiny ones. Marching and marching, marching to end others’ lives and their own.

Then came Tyrannosaurus Rex, but Bradbury refused to flee, refused to cower in fear, and stood his ground. Bit by bit, he cunningly strategizes a plan.

A little bit here,

A little bit there,

And maybe another point here?

Until it forms a big, beautiful butterfly.

And the butterfly in question is his well-known short story, “A Sound Of Thunder”.

In this literary work alone, Ray Bradbury�"an American bestselling author and screenwriter�"has artfully included snippets of his own personal experience with war and storytelling to uncover political social issues that affect everyone as a whole, in hopes of changing the opinions of people nationwide because he believes that: power should lie in the hands of the people, and not in the hands of one man.

Published in June 1952, “A Sound Of Thunder” is a short story written to convey the theme of how small actions, ones made by people with and without power, can lead to dire consequences. In other words, the butterfly effect. This was shown when Eckels, a wealthy hunter, stepped off the path while he was 66 million years back in time, and killed a butterfly. This seemingly small action couldn’t possibly lead to big consequences, can it? Well it did, and it changed the whole course of the world. Moreover, Bradbury skillfully foreshadows this outcome by letting Mr. Travis repeatedly warn Eckels: “Do not step off the path. Do not touch even the dirt of this realm”, warning not only Eckels but also the readers, that technology is risky and should not be taken lightly. The idea of travelling back in time to hunt dinosaurs was unthinkable during the 1950s, making Bradbury one of the best science fiction authors in history.

Unlike other authors, Bradbury expertly lined the blank spaces between his words with hidden meanings, complicated yet still simple enough for a child to understand. Like how even though this story is about time machines and dinosaurs, one of the biggest technological fantasies at the time�"due to the fact that the latest technology then was a television�"one particular quote stood out to me the most.

“If the election had gone badly yesterday, I might be here now running away from the results. Thank God Keith won. He'll make a fine President of the United States.”

Why would he mention presidential elections when the story is about time travel? What made it significant enough that Bradbury couldn’t help but include it?

Then, right after, he went on and wrote about how having Deutscher as a president would’ve been the unluckiest. He said Deutscher was one for war, against helping people, and against people knowing too much.

The emphasis here is so sneaky yet implies the true message of this text so well.

Then, right after, he again mentioned something that made everything crystal clear:

”Remember that. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler…none of them exists.”

Why mention them and not, say, Duke of Wellington? It’s because all these leaders were dictators. Each started a war and was the cause for billions of deaths. They were all authoritative fascists who were afraid of people knowing too much. People who were against helping each other and turned to hurting each other instead. War is not something to be taken lightly, and Bradbury has highlighted it in neon yellow.

This is the issue with communism and authoritative figures. And Bradbury has advocated this point over and over again, across so many of his works: Fahrenheit 541, A Sound Of Thunder.

And just like Mr. Travis was warning Eckels of the inevitable consequences, he’s foreshadowing�"hinting at the fact that us people, have made the wrong decision for centuries. The wrong decision of following people who are only using us to get their way. Because even our small actions, like voting for an authoritative leader, can lead to dire consequences; can lead to war. Because unlike Eckel’s world, we don’t have a time machine to go back and fix our mistakes.

While analysing this text, I felt as if I was Sherlock Holmes himself, unveiling the massive mind of Ray Bradbury layer by layer, uncovering his plan for fighting against the idea of war and the people who initiated it, little by little.

Bradbury was a man who lived through 3 wars, and still had the fight in him to advocate against it. He was an incredibly strong and cunning author, who always fought for the greater good of the people and their opinions, no matter the situation. He was an educator, advocating against war, despite the pain he had to go through from watching millions die in a span of one lifetime.

And I proudly present the 2024 BAAA award to Ray Bradury, for his consistency in advocating against war through his works, and for his undying fight for people's rights to vote and to have their own opinions.

Ray Bradbury, please step up to claim The Best Advocate Author Award of 2024. And thank you for writing ‘A Sound Of Thunder’.

*bows*

Works Cited

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“Ray Bradbury Center | Ray Bradbury Center.” Ray Bradbury Center | School of Liberal Arts Centers, 5 Feb. 2021, liberalarts.iupui.edu/centers/bradbury-center/. Accessed 15 Jan. 2024.

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“The 1950s Science and Technology: Topics in the News | Encyclopedia.com.” Www.encyclopedia.com, www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/culture-magazines/1950s-science-and-technology-topics-news. Accessed 15 Jan. 2024.

“The Theme of Censorship in Fahrenheit 451 - 1002 Words | Bartleby.” Www.bartleby.com, www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Theme-Of-Censorship-In-Fahrenheit-451-PC8WHKW5Z8T. Accessed 15 Jan. 2024.