A fantastic plot in the story and thunder struck. Bradbury's Tale "And Thunder Rocked

* * *

The notice on the wall blurred as if it were being draped in a film of gliding warm water; Eckels felt his eyelids close, closing his pupils for a split second, but the letters burned in the momentary darkness:

A / S SAFARI IN TIME

WE ORGANIZE A SAFARI ANY YEAR OF THE PAST

YOU CHOOSE LOOT

WE DELIVER YOU TO THE LOCATION

YOU KILL HER

Warm mucus accumulated in Eckels' throat; he swallowed convulsively. The muscles around his mouth stretched his lips into a smile as he slowly raised his hand, which swayed a ten thousand dollar check for the man behind the counter.

- Do you guarantee that I will return from the safari alive?

- We do not guarantee anything, - answered the clerk, - except for dinosaurs. - He turned. “Here is Mr. Travis, he will be your guide to the Past. He will tell you where and when to shoot. If he says “don't shoot”, then don't shoot. If you don't follow his orders, pay a fine on your return, another ten thousand, and besides, expect trouble from the government.

At the far end of the huge office space, Eckels saw something bizarre and indefinite, wriggling and humming, an interweaving of wires and steel casings, an iridescent bright halo - sometimes orange, sometimes silver, sometimes blue. The hum was such, as if Time itself was burning on a mighty fire, as if all the years, all the dates of the chronicles, all the days were piled up and set on fire.

One touch of the hand - and immediately this combustion obediently backs up. Eckels remembered every word of the announcement. From ashes and ashes, from dust and ashes, they will rise as if golden salamanders, old years, green years, roses will delight the air, gray hair will turn black, wrinkles and folds will disappear, everything and everyone will turn back and become a seed, rush from death to its source , the suns will rise in the west and plunge into the glow of the east, the moons will wane from the other end, everything and everyone will be like a chicken hiding in an egg, rabbits diving into a magician's hat, everything and everyone will know new death, seed death, green death, return at the time preceding conception. And this will be done with just one movement of the hand ...

“Damn it,” Eckels breathed; the glare of the Machine's light flickered across his thin face. - Real Time Machine! He shook his head. - Just think about it. Had the elections ended differently yesterday, and today, perhaps, I would have come here to flee. Thank goodness Keith won. The United States will have a good president.

“Exactly,” said the man at the desk. - We were lucky. If Deutscher were chosen, we would not escape the most brutal dictatorship. This type is against everything in the world - against the world, against faith, against humanity, against reason. People called us and asked us - jokingly, of course, but by the way ... Say, if Deutscher is president, could it be possible to move to 1492. Yes, just not our business - to arrange shoots. We organize safari. Anyway, Kate is the President, and now you have one concern ...

“… Kill my dinosaur,” Eckels finished.

- Tyrannosaurus rex. Thunderous Lizard, the most hideous monster in the history of this planet. Sign this. Whatever happens to you, we do not answer. These dinosaurs have a brutal appetite.

Eckels flushed with indignation.

- Are you trying to scare me?

- To be honest, yes. We do not want to send back those who panic at the first shot. Six leaders and a dozen hunters died that year. We give you the opportunity to experience the most damn adventure that a real hunter can dream of. Travel sixty million years ago and the greatest booty of all time! Here is your receipt. Tear it up.

Mr. Eckels stared at the check for a long time. His fingers trembled.

“Not a feather, not fluff,” said the man at the desk. “Mr. Travis, take care of the client.

Rifles in hand, they silently walked across the room to the Machine, to the silvery metal and the roaring light.

First day, then night, again day, again night; then day - night, day - night, day. Week, month, year, decade! The year is 2055. 2019, 1999! 1957! Past! The car roared.

They put on oxygen helmets, checked their headphones.

Eckels swayed in the soft seat, pale, teeth clenched. He felt a convulsive tremor in his hands, looked down and saw his fingers grip the new gun. There were four more in the car. Travis is the safari leader, his assistant Lesperance and two hunters - Billings and Kremer. They sat, looking at each other, and years passed by like flashes of lightning.

"Can this gun kill a dinosaur?" Eckels' lips said.

Let me give you some thoughts on the idea and composition of the story.

Travis's theory is that if you break something in the Past, if you destroy the smallest thing: crush the grass, kill the mouse, this can lead to irreparable consequences in the Future, since the whole course of evolution will change. Therefore, in no case should you leave the Trail. Eckels' fault lies primarily in his frivolous attitude to everything that happens: he does not want to understand and accept Travis's explanations, "jokingly" aims at the pterodactyl. In addition, he is afraid: his hands are shaking, he "smiles palely", he himself admits that he "trembles like a boy." Let us remember that in the office he was warned about the danger, but then he was indignant, indignant. Now his frivolity and cowardice lead to two crimes: he abandoned his comrades in a moment of danger and left the Path, knowing that this could lead to irreparable consequences for all of humanity.

The consequences of Eckels' actions were terrible: the level of human development fell sharply (the announcement with mistakes), the dictator won the elections to everyone's delight, the atmosphere itself (literally and figuratively) became different. The ring composition helps to understand the author's intention. There are some contradictions between Travis' actions and his theory. Although Travis is very careful in his handling of the Past (the Trail is created, only those animals that are soon to die are killed, the helmets serve to protect the Past from the bacteria of the Future, bullets are removed from the dinosaur's body, etc.), the safari still serves him and its employees are a means of profit. But the author could not choose another path: he had to send the heroes to the past. Otherwise, he would not be able to show us what can happen if we forget about his responsibility to the future. After all, our Present is also the Past for the Future. And we are responsible for this Future.

Travis at first spared Eckels, although his anger knew no bounds (remember that he wanted to leave Eckels in the Past, but did not do it at least because, probably, he did not know the consequences of such an act; he sent Eckels as punishment for cowardice cut bullets from the body of the dinosaur). Why did Travis spare Eckels?

The fact is that Travis, apparently, always remembers that killing, destruction can upset the balance on Earth. It doesn't matter who is killed: a butterfly, a mouse, a fox, a tiger or a man. In addition, Travis is not convinced that his own theory is correct and that Eckels' act will actually have an impact on the course of evolution. When, at the end of the story, he sees a killed butterfly and realizes what happened, he pronounces a death sentence on Eckels: he must pay for his crime against humanity.

Bradbury warns that we are all responsible to the future for our every act, even the most insignificant one. Thunder is thundering in the story when the dinosaur appears and when Travis shoots Eckels (the thunder of the shot is heard). But in the title of the story, this expression has a figurative meaning: a thunder-warning struck, a thunder-reckoning struck. The title sounds like a threat to those who do not heed the author's warning voice: stop in time, tomorrow it will be too late, do not kill, change your mind.

The story fights against murder, destruction - for the sake of life, for the sake of the normal development of civilization. He makes people think about the consequences of their actions, consciously approach the solution of certain issues. The work of R. Bradbury, so to speak, educates our mind, our consciousness, shapes our attitude to the world around us.

I would especially like to dwell on the writer’s understanding of style as truth, the truth that the writer lives. How does the science fiction writer Bradbury with his Time Machine, the Path, the dinosaur achieve the illusion of the complete reality of what is happening?

First, reality (the desk and the person behind it, the announcement joint stock company"Safari in time", ten thousand dollars as payment for services, presidential elections, etc.) is closely intertwined with fantasy, framing it, one penetrates into the other (the time machine is in the corner of the office, on the floor of the same office it will fall into the end of the story is a dead butterfly). Science fiction serves as a means of educating our relationship to reality.

Second, in his description of the Past, Bradbury is palpably realistic. We see this Past, we feel it, we plunge into it: “They sat among the ancient thickets. The wind carried the distant cries of birds, carried the smell of tar and the ancient salt sea, the smell of wet grass and blood-red flowers. " “The jungle was high and the jungle was wide and the jungle was the whole world forever. The air was filled with sounds, like music, like sails were beating in the air - they flew like gigantic the bats from a nightmare, from delirium, waving huge, like a cave vault, gray wings, pterodactyls. " “It walked on huge, shiny, springy, softly stepping feet. It towered thirty feet above the forest - the great god of evil, who pressed the watchmaker's fragile hands to the oily chest of the reptile. The legs are mighty pistons, a thousand pounds of white bone, braided by tight ropes of muscle beneath the shiny, wrinkled skin like a formidable warrior's mail. And from a huge billowing chest protruded two slender arms, hands with fingers that could pick up and examine a person like a toy. The wriggling serpentine neck easily lifted a thousand-kilogram stone monolith of the head to the sky. The open mouth exposed a palisade of dagger-teeth. The eyes were spinning - ostrich eggs, expressing nothing but hunger. "

A / S SAFARI IN TIME

WE ORGANIZE A SAFARI ANY YEAR OF THE PAST

YOU CHOOSE LOOT

WE DELIVER YOU TO THE LOCATION

YOU KILL HER

Do you guarantee that I will return from the safari alive?

We do not guarantee anything, ”the employee replied,“ except for dinosaurs. - He turned. “Here is Mr. Travis, he will be your guide to the Past. He will tell you where and when to shoot. If he says “don't shoot”, then don't shoot. Do not follow his orders, pay a fine on your return - ten thousand more, in addition, expect trouble from the government.

Damn it, - gasped Eckels; on his thin face there was a glimpse of light from a Machine - a Real Time Machine! He shook his head. - Just think about it. Had the elections ended differently yesterday, and today, perhaps, I would have come here to flee. Thank goodness Keith won. The United States will have a good president.

That's right, ”said the man at the desk. - We were lucky. If Deutscher were chosen, we would not escape the most brutal dictatorship. This type is against everything in the world against the world, against faith, against humanity, against reason. People called us and asked us - jokingly, of course, but by the way ... Say, if Deutscher is president, is it possible to move to 1492. Yes, just not our business to arrange shoots. We organize safari. Anyway, Kate is the President and you now have one concern ...

Kill my dinosaur, ”Eckels finished.

Tyrannosaurus rex. Thunderous Lizard, the most hideous monster in the history of this planet. Sign this. Whatever happens to you, we do not answer. These dinosaurs have a brutal appetite.

Eckels flushed with indignation.

Are you trying to scare me?

To be honest, yes. We do not want to send back those who panic at the first shot. Six leaders and a dozen hunters died that year. We give you the opportunity to experience the most damn adventure that a real hunter can dream of. Travel sixty million years ago and the greatest booty of all time! Here is your receipt. Tear it up.

Mr. Eckels looked at the check for a long time. His fingers trembled.

Not fluff, not a pen, ”said the man at the desk. Mr. Travis, handle the client.

Rifles in hand, they silently walked across the room to the Machine, to the silvery metal and the roaring light.

First day, then night, again day, again night; then day - night, day - night, day. Week, month, year, decade! The year is 2055. 2019, 1999! 1957! Past! The car roared.

They put on oxygen helmets, checked their headphones.

Can this gun kill a dinosaur? Eckels' lips said.

If you get it right, ”Travis answered through his headphones. - Some dinosaurs have two brains: one in the head, the other down the spine. We do not touch such people. Better not to abuse your lucky star. The first two bullets in the eye, if you can, of course. Blinded, then hit the brain.

The car howled. Time was like a reversing film. The suns flew backward, followed by tens of millions of moons.

God, ”said Eckels. “All hunters who have ever lived in the world would envy us today. Here Africa itself will seem to you to be Illinois.

The car slowed down, the howl gave way to a steady hum. The car stopped.

The sun stopped in the sky.

The haze that surrounded the Machine has dissipated, they were in antiquity, deep, deep antiquity, three hunters and two leaders, each with a gun on his knees - a blue blued barrel.

Christ hasn’t been born yet, ”Travis said. - Moses has not yet gone up the mountain to talk with God. The pyramids lie in the ground, the stones for them have not yet been hewn and stacked. Remember this. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler - none of them.

They nodded.

Here, ”Mr. Travis pointed with a finger,“ here is the jungle sixty million two thousand fifty-five years before President Keith.

He pointed to a metal path that went through a steamed swamp into green thickets, meandering between huge ferns and palms.

And this, - he explained, - is the Trail laid here for the hunters by the Company. It hovers six inches above the ground. It does not touch a single tree, not a single flower, not a single blade of grass. Made of anti-gravity metal. Its purpose is to isolate you from this world of the past so that you do not touch anything. Keep to the Trail. Don't leave her. I repeat: don't leave her. Under no circumstances! If you fall off it - fine. And don't shoot anything without our permission.

A / S SAFARI IN TIME

WE ORGANIZE A SAFARI ANY YEAR OF THE PAST

YOU CHOOSE LOOT

WE DELIVER YOU TO THE LOCATION

YOU KILL HER

Do you guarantee that I will return from the safari alive?

Kill my dinosaur, ”Eckels finished.

Tyrannosaurus rex. Thunderous Lizard, the most hideous monster in the history of this planet. Sign this. Whatever happens to you, we do not answer. These dinosaurs have a brutal appetite.

Eckels flushed with indignation.

Are you trying to scare me?

Mr. Eckels looked at the check for a long time. His fingers trembled.

Not fluff, not a pen, ”said the man at the desk. Mr. Travis, handle the client.

Rifles in hand, they silently walked across the room to the Machine, to the silvery metal and the roaring light.

First day, then night, again day, again night; then day - night, day - night, day. Week, month, year, decade! The year is 2055. 2019, 1999! 1957! Past! The car roared.

They put on oxygen helmets, checked their headphones.

Can this gun kill a dinosaur? Eckels' lips said.

The car howled. Time was like a reversing film. The suns flew backward, followed by tens of millions of moons.

God, ”said Eckels. “All hunters who have ever lived in the world would envy us today. Here Africa itself will seem to you to be Illinois.

The car slowed down, the howl gave way to a steady hum. The car stopped.

The sun stopped in the sky.

The haze that surrounded the Machine has dissipated, they were in antiquity, deep, deep antiquity, three hunters and two leaders, each with a gun on his knees - a blue blued barrel.

They nodded.

Here, ”Mr. Travis pointed with a finger,“ here is the jungle sixty million two thousand fifty-five years before President Keith.

He pointed to a metal path that went through a steamed swamp into green thickets, meandering between huge ferns and palms.

Sep 26, 2017

And the thunder struck Ray Bradbury

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Title: And Thunder Rocked

About Catching Thunder by Ray Bradbury

Our planet is full of mysteries and mysticism, which, perhaps, humanity will never solve. I think many will agree that at least once in their life they dreamed of being in the past, to see different eras, to see with my own eyes how humanity has developed, how life and nature have changed. Scientists only have some guesses, supported by scanty facts, but no one has ever given and will not give an exact answer.

Ray Bradbury's books always leave their mark on the soul of every reader. They leave no one indifferent. The work "And Thunder Has Ranged" will give you a lot of fascinating moments. You will be able to look into the past and understand some very important things for yourself.

The story tells about the journey of people into the past in the Mesozoic era. The main character goes on a safari in the past, while spending a lot of money on such a trip. There are strictest conditions here - you can only kill the animal that is already on the verge of death. For example, if a dinosaur is crushed by a tree or he fought in an unequal battle and was defeated. When people return to the future, they must carefully cover their traces of being there: remove all the bullets from the body of the dinosaur, not leave things. But most importantly, no one should go off the trail. The trail is anti-gravitational, so as not to accidentally crush a blade of grass or step on some insect.

The protagonist Eckels walks off the path at the moment he sees a Tyrannosaurus. And this rash act leads to the most unexpected consequences. The world in the future is completely changing. There is no president in power, but a dictator. In addition, people's speech has changed. And all this is due to the fact that main character crushed a butterfly.

Ray Bradbury's And The Thunder Came interesting information about why the world has changed. After all, if a person kills a Neanderthal, then all his possible future descendants also essentially die, and these are not a few people, but billions of people. By killing a butterfly that was supposed to live, perhaps becoming food for another animal that thus escaped death, Eckels changed the whole future.

In the book "And Thunder Rocked", in addition to scientific reflections, there are a lot of heroes' adventures in the past, which cannot but captivate the reader. We all love to learn about what dinosaurs were like, how they lived, why they became extinct. It will be even more interesting to learn about what the world was like in those days.
Ray Bradbury very realistically describes the already changed modern world. At first glance, it seems that everything has remained the same here, but if you look closely, you can see dramatic changes. How will the main characters get out of this situation? Will they be able to bring everything back?

The book "And Thunder Came" by Ray Bradbury captures with its amazing atmosphere. This is a classic fiction that many readers from different parts of the world love. This is a colorful story about a fantastic world in which people from the present have fallen. This is a meeting with dinosaurs, with an era in which we will never be able to get. It is always interesting to read about the mysteries of our planet, even if this is a fantasy novel.

On our site about books, you can download the site for free without registration or read online book"And Thunder Came" by Ray Bradbury in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and real pleasure from reading. Buy full version you can contact our partner. Also, here you will find last news from the literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For aspiring writers, there is a separate section with useful tips and recommendations, interesting articles, thanks to which you yourself can try your hand at literary skill.

Quotes from the book "And Thunder Came" by Ray Bradbury

She fell to the floor - graceful little creature, capable of upsetting the balance, small dominoes fell ... big dominoes ... huge dominoes, connected by a chain of innumerable years that make up Time. Eckels' thoughts were confused. It cannot be that she has changed something. Dead butterfly - and such consequences? Impossible!

After the collapse - green peace. After the nightmare - morning.

A graceful little creature, capable of upsetting the balance ... Small dominoes, large knuckles, huge knuckles have fallen, connected by a chain of innumerable years that make up Time.

Time does not allow such confusion for a person to meet himself. If such a danger arises. Time takes a step to the side. Like a plane falling into an air hole. Did you notice how the Car jolted just before our stop? We passed ourselves on the way back to the Future.

Crush a mouse with your foot - it will be tantamount to an earthquake, which will distort the appearance of the entire Earth, radically change our destinies. The death of one caveman is the death of a billion of his descendants, strangled in the womb. Maybe Rome will not appear on its seven hills. Europe will forever remain a dense forest, only in Asia will a lush life flourish. Step on the mouse and you will crush the pyramids. Step on the mouse and you will leave a dent in Eternity the size of the Great Canyon. There will be no Queen Elizabeth, Washington will not cross Delaware. The United States will not appear at all. So be careful. Keep to the trail. Never leave it!

From ashes and dust, from dust and ash, they will rise, as if golden salamanders, old years, green years, roses will delight the air, gray hair will turn black, wrinkles and folds will disappear, everything and everyone will turn back and become a seed, rush from death to its source , the suns will rise in the west and plunge into the glow of the east, the moons will wane from the other end, everything and everyone will be like a chicken hiding in an egg, rabbits diving into a magician's hat, everything and everyone will know new death, seed death, green death, return at the time preceding conception. And this will be done with just one movement of the hand ...

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