A Sound Of Thunder

A Sound of Thunder is a short story written by Ray Bradbury which belongs to the genre of science fiction. Set in a near future where time travel is possible, this is the story of a travel agency, Time Safari Inc., that arranges hunting trips back in time to hunt dinosaurs. In this case, a nervous hunter, Eckels, steps off the trail, and steps on a butterfly. The historical repercussions of the death of a single butterfly, compounded by millions of years of effects, leaves the hunters to return to a future that is not quite the one they came from. In this commentary I will analyze the tone structure and literary devices used by the author in this story.

The structure of the story is one of the most interesting things. The author uses the length of the paragraphs to manipulate the speed and time of the story; the shortest paragraph is three words long, whereas the longest has twenty lines. By controlling the length of the paragraphs, Bradbury can produce a feeling of quickness or slowness, and also to describe the most important things in a more detailed way. The use technique is used inside the sentences, the author shortens the phrases so as to speed time. For example in page 19, when the group is travelling back in time, he creates speed with: “first a day and then a night…day-night…week…month…year…decade…gone”.

Another interesting aspect of this short story is the language used by Ray Bradbury. He never describes a person, for instance in page 17, he doesn’t describe Eckel or his feelings when he reads the sign, he only describes his physical reaction. “A warm phlegm gathered in Eckels throat”. Another characteristic is the strong picture given in special parts of the story. For example in pages 23-24 he describes with just four words an important scene in where the Tyrannosaurus rex makes his appearance. “Silence.