In A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury, human psyche and mindset plays a huge part in how the story plays out. The story also shows many flaws in humans, especially due to their arrogance and sense of superiority. Overall, the story gives an important message and sheds light on the dangerous inner feelings and minds of humans.
First, humans’ wish and desire plays a major part in the story. In the beginning, Eckels and a few other crew members travel through a time machine to visit the age of the dinosaurs to kill a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Before going, Eckels constantly asks and looks for reassurance that he will make it out alive. He asks the man behind the desk for the reassurance that he will get the thrill of a dangerous experience without worrying about his danger. He realizes how much of a dangerous situation he was getting himself in, but proceeds to be drawn to the time machine and the possibilities behind it. Due to Eckels’s own sense of adventure and belief in himself, he gets himself in danger.
Secondly, before Eckels hears about the possibility of death and encounters the Tyrannosaurus Rex, he feels confident and ready. Presumably, in his head, he had played out a situation that utterly fails when occurring in reality. After the official behind the desk tells him about the possibility of death, Eckels feels uncertain and afraid. He continues to describe the fear surrounding the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Eckels becomes offended, clearly still stuck in his imagination and dreams. However, when Eckels meets the Tyrannosaurus Rex in reality, he runs away in fear and cowers due to the sheer size and strength of the beast. An ironic event occurs as a result of him running. Eckels runs away due to being afraid of death, but in the end, his death was caused by him running away.
Overall, A Sound of Thunder tells us about how human emotion and feelings cause major consequences through their actions. Eckels and the whole safari’s sense of enjoyment causes the whole situation with altering the future to occur. Another way human feeling affects the story is through one’s arrogance about a situation only to be disrupted by reality. Through A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury, human psyche and feeling are shown through the decisions that each character makes.