A Sound Of Thunder

“Out of chars and ashes, out of dust and coals, like golden salamanders, the old years, the green years, might leap; roses sweeten the air, white hair turn Irish-­black, wrinkles vanish; all, everything fly back to seed, flee death, rush down to their beginnings, suns rise in western skies and set in glorious easts, moons eat themselves opposite to the custom, all and everything cupping one in another like Chinese boxes, rabbits into hats, all and everything returning to the fresh death, the seed death, the green death, to the time before the beginning. A touch of a hand might do it, the merest touch of a hand.” 

This passage from Time Safari’s advertisement evokes a nostalgic view of the past, and the poetic, descriptive language evokes the dazzling magic of time travel. The advertisement’s statement that “the merest touch of a hand” is capable of this conveys the sense of power that the company feels over time itself, and also conveys the fragility of the fabric of time.

“If Deutscher had gotten in, we'd have the worst kind of dictatorship. There’s an anti-everything man for you, a militarist, anti-­Christ, anti­human, anti-intellectual.” 

This quote gives the political backdrop upon which the story takes place. It situates the action right after an election that was narrowly won by a moderate candidate, and a relief to have avoided Deutscher’s presidency. It also foreshadows that the very situation they thought they’d avoided is now their reality due to Eckel’s own meddling in time. It is Time Safari’s hubris that brings about the change that allows Deutscher to be elected.

“Who knows? Who really can say he knows? We don't know. We're guessing. But until we do know for certain whether our messing around in Time can make a big roar or a little rustle in history, we're being careful.” 

Time Safari, Inc., is taking precautions that are based on an incomplete understanding of time and what time travel technology is capable of doing. This uncertainty contributes to rising tension in the narrative as Eckels and the crew prepare to hunt the dinosaur. It also gives the situation a sense of recklessness, because Time Safari is meddling with complex forces they don’t fully understand, despite their insistence that they are being careful.

“‘Think,’ said Eckels. ‘Every hunter that ever lived would envy us today. This makes Africa seem like Illinois.’” 

Eckels, an avid hunter, makes this comment in excitement for his safari, clearly conceiving of this adventure as the pinnacle of his hunting experience. The mention of Africa in particular is a nod to colonial big game hunters who would go to Africa to hunt large mammals such as lions and rhinoceroses. This ties the hunting of the dinosaur to a colonial history of big game trophy hunting, and the likening of Africa to Illinois as compared to time travel positions the journey to millions of years in the past as the ultimate colonial conquest and most exotic possible location.

“‘Christ isn't born yet,’ said Travis, ‘Moses has not gone to the mountains to talk with God. The Pyramids are still in the earth, waiting to be cut out and put up. Remember that. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler—­none of them exists.’” 

To drive home the wonder of their situation, Travis invokes the rise of civilization through the pyramids, biblical figures, and famous political figures. By depicting the pyramids as “waiting,” he implies that their construction was inevitable, and that they were in some way destined for their fate. This strange situation enables the hunting party to think about time more broadly, linking biblical and historical figures to their new political leader, Keith. In addition, Bradbury’s mention of these figures reinforces the political themes of the story.

“‘And that,’ he said, ‘is the Path, laid by Time Safari for your use,

It floats six inches above the earth. Doesn't touch so much as one grass blade, flower, or tree.’” 

Time safari thinks they’ve accounted for everything that could go wrong. But they fail to consider Eckel’s primal fear when faced with the dinosaur, which makes him act illogically. This suggests that humans are not as in control as they think we are, and that the path, despite floating six inches above the ground so as not to disturb wildlife, is not foolproof when met with a human’s “primitive” or “natural” reactions to the world around him.

“They sat in the ancient wilderness. Far birds' cries blew on a wind, and the smell of tar and an old salt sea, moist grasses, and flowers the color of blood.” 

The hunting party has a still moment before the hunt, taking in the strangeness of the place where they find themselves. The sensory details Bradbury includes in this passage helps the reader envision the setting. Flowers the color of blood evoke and foreshadow an eerie violence and add to the menace and wondrousness of the landscape.

“Not knowing it, we might kill an important animal, a small bird, a roach, a flower even, thus destroying an important link in a growing species.” 

Travis’s statement conveys the interconnection and contingency of all life on earth. It implies that even the very small and seemingly insignificant things can make a big difference. Looked at another way, this way of thinking is ecological in that it accounts for the connections and relationships between living things and their environment.

“‘I’ve hunted tiger, wild boar, buffalo, elephant, but now, this is it,’ said Eckels. ‘I'm shaking like a kid.’” 

Eckels views himself as an experienced hunter up to this point. His sudden fear and apprehension imply that this is the culmination of his hunting hobby, the biggest and most impressive animal he will ever shoot. This comment also adds to the rising tension in the story, which is about to reach a climax with the dramatic entrance of the Tyrannosaurus rex.

“Suddenly it all ceased, as if someone had shut a door. Silence. A sound of thunder. Out of the mist, one hundred yards away, came Tyrannosaurus Rex.” 

This passage shows the dexterity of Bradbury’s writing. He shifts seamlessly from a flowery, figurative style to a spare style that gives only the necessary information. The very short sentences convey a sense of anticipation as we await the arrival of the Tyrannosaurus rex.

“It came on great oiled, resilient, striding legs. It towered thirty feet above half of the trees, a great evil God, folding its delicate watchmaker's claws close to its oily reptilian chest. Each lower leg was a piston, a thousand pounds of white bone, sunk in thick ropes of muscle, sheathed over in a gleam of pebbled skin like the mail of a terrible warrior.” 

The metaphors in this passage convey the scariness of the beast, as well as showcase Bradbury’s descriptive style at its best. The metaphors he uses here convey its power and also liken it to a terrible machine as he writes of its “pistons” and “ropes” and “watchmaker’s claws” (6).

“Eckels fumbled his shirt. ‘I'll pay anything. A hundred thousand dollars!’” 

Eckels continues to think that he can pay his way out of the major mistake he has made. This could reference the widely held belief that money can solve anything, even irreversible environmental damage. It reveals that money, in some ways a simple thing that proposes solutions in a simple way, cannot solve the complex problem that Eckels created.

“It fell to the floor, an exquisite thing, a small thing that could upset balances and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across Time.” 

This description of the butterfly exemplifies a central theme of the story—that small events can add up to bigger ones and that consequences cannot be foreseen. By using the metaphor of dominoes, Bradbury demonstrates that what Travis warned has come to pass—a small disturbance through the killing of one creature built up over time to lead to the unforeseen event of the election of Deutscher.