Overall, Bradbury conveys the message of how decisions play a role in life, often through the understanding the extent of one’s choices, acceptance of responsibility with positive or negative repercussions, and attempt to atone for actions shown to be unfavorable, even if proven impossible.Įvery decision has its own set of positive and negative consequences. However, Eckels not only fails to hunt his prey-the Tyrannosaurus Rex-but unknowingly changes the past, when returning to the present he finds that stepping on a insignificant butterfly meant altering time, and thus a new future.

Eckels, the protagonist, gets more than he bargains for when he signs up for a dinosaur hunt, fueled with curiosity supplied by an awe-inspiring Time Machine. In his greatest effort to understand the extent of one’s choices in life, author Ray Bradbury generates a scenario based on decision-making in the past that alters the future in his sci-fi short story, A Sound of Thunder. Contained with such knowledge, the average person may come across a certain doubt of how far a decision affects one’s surroundings. With these consequences comes a definite responsibility, holding who made the choice accountable. It is convinced therefore that every decision made must be reconsidered as much possible before action is commenced as every and any act comes with foreseeable or unforeseeable consequences. And yet, no matter how careful or careless a choice is made, it nonetheless leaves an impact on the entire world.

Some choices are made with diligent planning, while others are done in haste. People may not recognize it, but the greatest power that one can possess is the ability to make decisions.

The sound of thunder bradbury