Leila Cristina Evaristo Professor Anelise Reich Corseuil LLE 7422 Literatura Norte Americana II 18 November 2009 World

War II debris in 1950s American science fiction literature: Postwar representations of totalitarianism in Ray Bradburys A Sound of Thunder In spite of it was over, the ghosts of World War II were still haunting 1950s American writers. A Sound of Thunder brings the horror of the war to the surface, seven years after its end, by presenting a way of accidentally destroying a democracy by crushing a butterfly. A journey of four men who travel back in a time when The Pyramids are still in the earth, waiting to be cut out and put up. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler none of them exists. (Bradbury 4,5) will change the history of civilization, and the United States will be no longer a country of freedom and democracy. A Sound of Thunder is a short story written by the American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury and first published in 1952 in Colliers magazine (Clareson, 113). The story is set in 2055 a time when journeys back in time have become profitable business for companies like Time Safari, Inc. which offers trips sixty million years back in history so their clients can shoot real dinosaurs. Eckels is one of their clients, and he pays the amount of ten thousand dollars in advance to come aboard of a time machine and hunt the most unique prey of his life: a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Apart from his interest in hunting dinosaurs, Eckels is also concerned about politics. On the previous day, the presidential election results in the United States were announced,

Orenstein 2 and Eckels was relieved that the country was free from the menace of a dictatorship era that would be headed by the new presidents opponent. After World War II, countries like Germany, England, and Japan were deeply damaged due to the brutalities of war. On the other hand, The United States was economically benefited since its industry had achieved a huge growth during World War II. Besides, American troops were spread all over, and European countries and Japan owed the United States great sums of money. Along with the United States, the USSR was the nation which held more economic power once the World War II was over. Despite the USSR had been invaded by the German army during war, it was able to retaliate the Nazi and take some German territories over. This outcome contributed to put Eastern Europe under the influence of the USSR. The tension between the two remaining world power nations in the postwar period yielded another conflict known as Cold War (Blair et al. 244246). Among economic and technological influences, this period also had and impact upon American art and literature. According to Bercovitch and Patell, As America entered an era of prosperity and international dominance, American artists and writers grew pessimistic and introspective, like troubled prophets brooding darkly at the banquet of national celebration (135). In A Sound of Thunder, this feature is evident. At the beginning, people are glad that democracy was assured with the election of the new president. His defeat would represent years of the worst kind of dictatorship (Bradbury 32). But following a pessimistic view, Bradbury presents a situation that is very likely to disturb the apparent equilibrium. As soon as they get sixty million two thousand and fifty-five years back in time, Eckels is warned not to touch anything neither to go off a path which was especially designed to avoid interference with that world. As Knuuttila suggests, the timetravel rule in Bradburys shot story somewhat resembles the promises and prohibitions of myths

Orenstein 3 and fairy tales: everything is permitted but [] do not interfere in the course of events regardless of what you see or what might happen (267). Knuuttila also points out that this kind of text only exists because someone has attained to break these rules. And that is exactly what happens. Eckels steps out of the Path. The consequences of accidentally killing even a small animal could be cataclysmic. The safari guide Travis presents a reasoned discourse about how a slight event could trigger other events that could culminate in a world disaster, as follows: say we accidentally kill one mouse here. That means all the future families of this one particular mouse are destroyed, right? And all the families of the families of the families of that one mouse! With a stamp of your foot, you annihilate first one, then a dozen, then a thousand, a million, a billion possible mice! what about the foxes thatll need those mice to survive? For want of ten mice, a fox dies. For want of ten foxes a lion starves. For want of a lion, all manner of insects, vultures, infinite billions of life forms are thrown into chaos and destruction. fifty-nine million years later, a caveman, one of a dozen on the entire world, goes hunting wild boar or saber-toothed tiger for food. But you, friend, have stepped on all the tigers in that region. By stepping on one single mouse. So the caveman starves. And the caveman, please note, is not just any expendable man, no! He is an entire future nation. With the death of that one caveman, a billion others yet unborn are throttled in the womb. So be careful. Stay on the Path. Never step off! (Bradbury 34,35) And what could be a greater disaster than changing the results of the present-time presidential election? In a time when Americans were living the American dream of freedom and democracy,

Orenstein 4 that would be nothing but a fatal tragedy. The horror of the World War II was buried about a decade ago; nevertheless Bradbury brings the issue back to life. Deutscher is the name of the dictator who was running the election for president. Before Eckels trip, Deutscher was defeated by Keith. According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the word Deutsch means German spoken and it is also a word that has German etymology. This way, the name could be interpreted as a reference to the Nazi dictator who governed Germany from 1933 to 1945, Adolf Hitler. At that point in the United States, the Nazi ideology was totally rejected by the Americans, since it represented the opposite tenet of the American way of life. The candidates name is mentioned three times in the story, and its appearance is associated with words and expressions like: dictatorship, militarist, anti-Christ, anti-human, anti-intellectual (Bradbury 32), iron man, man with guts (Bradbury 44). His victory would represent a threat to democracy, and this dreadful fatality becomes real the moment Eckels steps off the Path. From that moment on, the chain of events would alter the future. A butterfly dies, a dictatorship is born. The fact that Eckels kills a butterfly changes history. This episode is preceded by the arrival of the sought Tyrannosaurus Rex. It is the animal which was previously marked with red paint in order to be easily identified and executed. Its appearance disturbs Eckels who is so impressed by the animals majesty that he believes it would be impossible to kill it. His words of astonishment were It cant be killed We were fools to come. This is impossible (Bradbury 38). Due to its impressive entrance and the effects that it produces in the main character, the creature is a possible foreshadowing element of the events to come. Tyrannosaurus Rex (literally, tyrant lizard) is considered to be one of the most successful predators of the Cretaceous, and his presence signals an anticipation of tragic affairs since it brings disturbance to the environment. According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Tyrant means: 1 a: an absolute ruler unrestrained by law

Orenstein 5 or constitution b: a usurper of sovereignty; 2 a: a ruler who exercises absolute power oppressively or brutally b: one resembling an oppressive ruler in the harsh use of authority or power. These definitions seem to be in accordance with Deutschers characterization that was previously mentioned and also related to Hitlers totalitarian rule. In Bradburys short story, the accidental obliteration of a butterfly in remote prehistory might set off a casual chain that alters the political complexion of human society (Stableford 79,80). This representation of the mathematical concept of chaos compels Stableford to suggest that the term butterfly effect owe some of its popularity to Ray Bradbury (79). When the team of hunters comes back to year 2055, they sense that there is something strange. The narrator describes that they see The room was there as they had left it. But not the same as they had left it. The same man sat behind the same desk. But the same man did not quite sit behind the same desk (Bradbury 43). When they left the room, the sign on the office wall conveying the company motto was the following:

TIME SAFARI, INC. SAFARIS TO ANY YEAR IN THE PAST. YOU NAME THE ANIMAL. WE TAKE YOU THERE. YOU SHOOT IT.

Now it was turned into: TYME SEFARI INC. SEFARIS TU ANY YEER EN THE PAST. YU NAIM THE ANIMALL. WEE TAEK YU THAIR. YU SHOOT ITT.

Orenstein 6 Pignatari (211) defines this spoonerism as a stochastic approximation, i.e. a distortion that keeps a resemblance to the original, but it has some random and unpredicted elements. In the story, this phenomenon was caused by arbitrary events that were trigged after an apparently insignificant interference. The early stages of the device of doubling a vowel to show that is long can be found in Old English (Brook, 108). The new version of the sign has this characteristic; hence it has a slight similarity with the Anglo Saxon language, from the Germanic family, which is the group of languages to which both English and German belong (Brook, 37). It could represent that, in this alternative reality that was created, the roots of English were preserved through time, instead of being influenced by many other peoples. Once again it is possible to see representations of a totalitarian regime in the text, in this case, by the rule of the language. In any case, the change in the language system indicates that the development of the society occurred in a different way. Furthermore, A Sound of Thunder was lately adapted by the author himself to a television series called Ray Bradbury Theater. The episode was first aired in 1989. In this episode, the references to World War II are even more evident. When the men arrive in the year 2055, they are welcome with a military salute by a man who is wearing an armband and has a strong German accent. People are carrying guns, and they wear military uniforms. Travis then asks the receptionist about the election. The receptionist replies Election? What Election? and he informs Travis that Deuscther has been the president since 2015. In conclusion, Bradburys short story plays with the possibility of reviving and also relocating what was once lived in Europe during the World War II. The horrifying alternative reality is caused accidentally, and the consequences are irreparable. The journey of the men who traveled back in time to hunt a dinosaur is followed by a tragic incident which is the vanishing of democracy in the United States. Considering that the country was going through a period of growth

Orenstein 7 and global dominance, this distrustful view could be a sign that the ghosts of World War II an event that scattered its debris over the forthcoming generation were still dwelling in some American writers minds in the postwar period.

Works Cited A Sound of Thunder. Dir. Costa Botes. Perf. John Bach, Michael Batley, Kiel Martin, John McDavitt, and Michael McLeod. 1989. Film. Bercovitch, Sacvan, and Cyrus R. K. Patell. The Cambridge History of American Literature, Volume 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Print.

Orenstein 8 Blair, Walter, Theodore Hornberger, James E. Miller, Jr., and Randall Stewart. American Literature: A Brief History. Glenview: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1974. Print. Bradbury, Ray. A sound of thunder. The Young Oxford Book of Timewarp Stories. Ed. Denis Pepper. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 31-44. Print Brook, G. L. A History of the English Language. London: Andre Deustch, 1972. Print. Clareson, Thomas D. Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction: The Formative Period, 1926-1970. Columbia: South Carolina Press, 1992. Knuuttila, Seppo. Memory, anachronism, and articulation. Trames, 12(62/57). 3 (2008): 264275. Estonian Academy of Sciences and Tartu University. Web. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Web. Pignatari, Dcio. Poesia Pois Poesia: 1950-2000. Campinas: Ateli Editorial, 2004. Print. Stableford, Brian. Science Fact and Science Fiction: an Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.