A Sound of Thunder

Last updated

"A Sound of Thunder"
Short story by Ray Bradbury
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Science fiction
Publication
Published in Collier's
Publication dateJune 28, 1952

"A Sound of Thunder" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published in Collier's magazine on June 28, 1952, and later in Bradbury's 1953 collection The Golden Apples of the Sun . [1]

Contents

Plot summary

In the year 2055, time travel has become a practical reality, and the company Time Safari Inc. offers wealthy adventurers the chance to travel back in time to hunt extinct species such as dinosaurs. A hunter named Eckels pays $10,000 to join a hunting party that will travel back 65 million years to the Late Cretaceous period, on a guided safari to kill a Tyrannosaurus rex . As the party waits to depart, they discuss the recent presidential elections in which a far-right candidate, Deutscher, has been defeated by his opponent Keith, to the relief of many concerned.

When the party arrives in the past, Travis, the hunting guide, and his assistant warn Eckels and the two other hunters about the necessity of minimizing the events they change before they go back, since even the smallest alterations to the distant past could snowball into catastrophic changes in history. Travis explains that the hunters are obliged to stay on a levitating path to avoid disrupting the environment, any deviation will be punished with hefty fines and prosecution, Time Safari scouts had been sent back to select and tag prey whose death will have minimal effect on the future prior to the hunt, and the time machine "steps aside" to prevent people from encountering themselves in the past.

Although Eckels is initially excited about the hunt, when the monstrous Tyrannosaurus approaches, he loses his nerve. Travis tells him to go back to the time machine, but Eckels panics, steps off the path, and stumbles into the forest. The other four shoot and kill the dinosaur and see that Eckels has found his way back to the time machine. Travis threatens to leave him in the past before ordering him to remove the bullets from the dinosaur's body, as they cannot be left behind.

Upon returning to 2055, Eckels and the rest of the party notice major changes; English words are now spelled phonetically, and worst of all, Deutscher has won the election to the approval of the pro-fascist populace. Looking at the mud on his boots, Eckels finds a crushed golden butterfly, whose death has apparently changed the nature of the alternative present to which the safari has returned. He frantically pleads to undo the damage, and the story ends on a gunshot fired by Travis.

Adaptations

A comic-book version appeared in issue #25 of EC Comics's Weird Science-Fantasy (1954), adapted by Al Feldstein with art by Al Williamson and Angelo Torres. [2]

The story was adapted for the first issue of Topp's Publishing's Ray Bradbury Comics (1993) with art by Richard Corben. [3]

The story was adapted for the fourth season episode six of The Ray Bradbury Theater on October 8, 1989, starring Kiel Martin. [4]

A film adaptation of the same name starring Ben Kingsley, Edward Burns, and Catherine McCormack was released in 2005. [5] Famed film critic Roger Ebert stated that while he "cannot endorse it, [he] can appreciate it" as a film that is bad because it "want[s] so much to be terrific that [it] explode[s] under the strain." [5]

A Game Boy Advance video game based on the film was also released. It was finished in time for the film's planned 2003 release, delayed along with it, and ultimately released in February 2005. [6] Planned console ports were canceled.

The story is parodied in the Time and Punishment section of The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror V." [7]

The story is referenced in a brief scene at the beginning of the Doctor Who episode "Space Babies." [8]

Influence

"A Sound of Thunder" is often credited as the origin of the term "butterfly effect", a concept of chaos theory in which the flapping of a butterfly's wings in one part of the world could create a hurricane on the opposite side of the globe. The term was actually introduced by meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz in the 1960s. However, Bradbury's concept of how the death of a butterfly in the past could have drastic changes in the future is a representation of the butterfly effect and is used as an example of how to consider chaos theory and the physics of time travel. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Bradbury</span> American writer (1920–2012)

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

<i>The Butterfly Effect</i> 2004 American science fiction thriller film

The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American science fiction thriller film written and directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber. It stars Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz, William Lee Scott, Elden Henson, Logan Lerman, Ethan Suplee, and Melora Walters. The title refers to the butterfly effect.

The butterfly effect is a metaphor for sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory.

Dinosaurs constitute a group of animals of the clade Dinosauria.

<i>A Sound of Thunder</i> (film) 2005 film by Peter Hyams

A Sound of Thunder is a 2005 American science fiction thriller film directed by Peter Hyams and starring Edward Burns, Catherine McCormack and Ben Kingsley. It is a co-production film between the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradbury Building</span> American architectural landmark, built 1893

The Bradbury Building is an architectural landmark in downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. Built in 1893, the five-story office building is best known for its extraordinary skylit atrium of access walkways, stairs and elevators, and their ornate ironwork. The building was commissioned by Los Angeles gold-mining millionaire Lewis L. Bradbury and constructed by draftsman George Wyman from the original design by Sumner Hunt. It appears in numerous works of fiction and has been the site of many movie and television shoots and music videos.

"The Fog Horn" is a 1951 science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, the first in his collection The Golden Apples of the Sun. The story was the basis for the 1953 action horror film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror V</span> 6th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror V" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the fifth entry in the Treehouse of Horror series. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories: "The Shinning", "Time and Punishment", and "Nightmare Cafeteria".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time travel in fiction</span> Concept and accompanying genre in fiction

Time travel is a common theme in fiction, mainly since the late 19th century, and has been depicted in a variety of media, such as literature, television, film, and advertisements.

<i>Tyrannosaurus</i> in popular culture

Tyrannosaurus rex is unique among dinosaurs in its place in modern culture; paleontologist Robert Bakker has called it "the most popular dinosaur among people of all ages, all cultures, and all nationalities". Paleontologists Mark Norell and Lowell Dingus have likewise called it "the most famous dinosaur of all times." Paleoartist Gregory S. Paul has called it "the theropod. [...] This is the public's favorite dinosaur [...] Even the formations it is found in have fantastic names like Hell Creek and Lance." Other paleontologists agree with that and note that whenever a museum erects a new skeleton or bring in an animatronic model, visitor numbers go up. "Jurassic Park and King Kong would not have been the same without it." In the public mind, T. rex sets the standard of what a dinosaur should be. Science writer Riley Black similarly states, "In all of prehistory, there is no animal that commands our attention quite like Tyrannosaurus rex, the king of the tyrant lizards. Since the time this dinosaur was officially named in 1905, the enormous carnivore has stood as the ultimate dinosaur."

<i>Rivers of Time</i> Science fiction short stories by Sprague de Camp

Rivers of Time is a 1993 collection of science fiction short stories by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, first published in paperback by Baen Books. All but one of the pieces were originally published between 1956 and 1993 in the magazines Galaxy, Expanse, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, and Asimov's Science Fiction, and the Robert Silverberg-edited anthology The Ultimate Dinosaur. The remaining story was first published in the present work.

<i>Years in the Making: The Time-Travel Stories of L. Sprague de Camp</i> 2005 collection of short stories

Years in the Making: the Time-Travel Stories of L. Sprague de Camp is a collection of science fiction stories by American author L. Sprague de Camp, edited by Mark L. Olson and illustrated by Bob Eggleton. It was first published in hardcover by NESFA Press in February 2005, with a NESFA/Science Fiction Book Club edition following in September of the same year.

<i>A Sound of Thunder</i> (video game) 2004 video game

A Sound of Thunder is a 2004 video game for the Game Boy Advance. The game was developed by Möbius Entertainment and published by BAM! Entertainment. It was released in Europe on February 28, 2004 before arriving in North America on February 1, 2005. The story is based loosely both on the original short story by Ray Bradbury of the same name and follows more closely the plot of the 2005 film.

<i>The Land Unknown</i> 1957 film by Virgil W. Vogel

The Land Unknown is a 1957 science fiction CinemaScope adventure film about a naval expedition trapped in an Antarctic jungle. The story was allegedly inspired by the discovery of unusually warm water in Antarctica in 1947. It stars Jock Mahoney and Shirley Patterson and was directed by Virgil W. Vogel. The film's low-budget special effects include men in dinosaur suits, puppets and monitor lizards standing in for dinosaurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Gun for Dinosaur</span> Short story by L. Sprague de Camp

"A Gun for Dinosaur" is a classic time travel science fiction story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp as part of his Rivers of Time series. It tells the story of four men who travel into the past to hunt dinosaurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Bradbury bibliography</span>

The following is a list of works by Ray Bradbury.

<i>Dinosaur Tales</i> Book by Ray Bradbury

Dinosaur Tales is a 1983 short story collection by Ray Bradbury. Several of the stories are original to this collection. Other stories were first published in Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post magazines. The collection contains over 60 pages of illustrations by Gahan Wilson, William Stout, Steranko, Moebius, Overton Loyd, Kenneth Smith and David Wiesner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butterfly effect in popular culture</span> Examples of the butterfly effect

The butterfly effect describes a phenomenon in chaos theory whereby a minor change in circumstances can cause a large change in outcome. The scientific concept is attributed to Edward Lorenz, a mathematician and meteorologist who used the metaphor to describe his research findings related to chaos theory and weather prediction, initially in a 1972 paper titled "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" The butterfly metaphor is attributed to the 1952 Ray Bradbury short story "A Sound of Thunder".

<i>Doraemon: Nobitas Dinosaur</i> 1980 film by Hiroshi Fukutomi

Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur is a 1980 Japanese animated science fiction adventure film based on the manga series Doraemon, particularly the first volume of the same name of the Doraemon Long Stories series. The film premiered on 15 March 1980 in Japan. It is the first feature-length Doraemon film. In 2006, the film was remade as Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006. It is an expanded version of the 1975 chapter with the same name.

<i>The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century</i>

The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century is an anthology of science fiction time travel short stories edited by Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg. It was first published in trade paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in January 2005. The book has been translated into Portuguese.

References

  1. ↑ Birx, H. James (January 13, 2009). Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture. Sage Publications. pp. 109–. ISBN   9781412941648 . Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Weird Science-Fantasy #3". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Ray Bradbury Comics #1". TV.com. May 22, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ "The Ray Bradbury Theater — Season 4, Episode 6: A Sound of Thunder". TV.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Ebert, Roger (February 5, 2013). Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007. Andrews McMeel Publishing. pp. 648–. ISBN   9780740792199 . Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  6. ↑ "A Sound of Thunder". ca.ign.com. IGN. March 2, 2005. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  7. ↑ Rogers, Brett M.; Stevens, Benjamin Eldon (February 9, 2015). Classical Traditions in Science Fiction. Oxford University Press. p. 322. ISBN   9780190228330 . Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  8. ↑ Gatwa, Ncuti (actor) and Gibson, Millie (actor) (May 4, 2024). The Butterfly Effect! | PREVIEW | Space Babies | Doctor Who (YouTube preview). BBC Studios. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  9. ↑ Flam, Faye (June 15, 2012). "The Physics of Ray Bradbury's 'A Sound of Thunder'". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved September 2, 2015.

Further reading

Listen to this article (4 minutes)
Sound-icon.svg
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 7 June 2012 (2012-06-07), and does not reflect subsequent edits.
(Audio help  · More spoken articles)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.