Ray Bradbury's 'A Sound Of Thunder'

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“A Sound of Thunder” Analysis Ray Bradbury’s story “A Sound of Thunder” insinuates that every small thing affects the world in some way. When the safari group reaches its destination in the past, Travis mentions a path that has been constructed by Time Safari, Inc. The path hovers six inches above the ground, and it does not come in contact with anything from the past. Eckels questions the significance of the path, and Travis states that “We don't want to change the Future. We don't belong here in the Past…we might kill an important animal, a small bird, a roach, a flower even, thus destroying an important link in a growing species.” He also warns Eckels that there will be a consequence for stepping off of the path. The path in the story represents the path that people should take in life. Sometimes people make mistakes and stray from the path, like Eckels did. While there is always a way to return to the path, the fact that someone went off the path cannot be reversed. Travis reinforces the fact that not all mistakes can be reversed by warning Eckels of …show more content…
They realized that Eckels had dirt on his shoes from stepping off of the path, and Travis became furious. He threatened to leave Eckels behind, but Eckels begged for forgiveness and even offered to pay an additional one hundred thousand dollars to have permission to return back to the present. Travis allowed Eckels to come back, but only after retrieving the bullets from the head of the dinosaur. When Eckels acknowledged his wrongdoing, he thought that he could make things right again by offering to pay the company one hundred thousand dollars. His thoughts are similar to those of someone who has made a mistake. No amount of money could change what he had done. By retrieving the bullets, he was allowed to travel back to the present with the rest of the group, but the consequences of his actions were still
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