Sunny Youth Journal

If you could, would you go back in time? In the story “Sound of Thunder,” people actually have a chance to do it. What happens back in time could drastically change the future though.

There is a group of men going back in time to kill a dinosaur. However, they cannot ruin anything else or the future could change dramatically. In the group, there is a man called Eckels who when he sees the dinosaur, wants to return to real time. He strays off the path which makes Travis, another man of the group, very angry. When they get back, Eckels realizes that he stepped on a butterfly when in the past. Now, the alphabet has changed, the Earth’s atmosphere has changed, and most importantly, the presidential election’s results have changed.

The lesson is that going back in time has its risks. Even stepping on a simple, small butterfly can make something so big like an election change. In this case, Eckels has to carry the burden and is killed for his actions. Should he have been more careful? Yes he should have. If he did, no harm would have been done. Should he have been killed? Possibly not because he is allowed to back out of a mission and he can make his own choices. Even though he should be punished for doing something so big, he shouldn’t just be killed.

Although going back in time could sound exciting and appealing, there are risks that could be possibly fatal. Sometimes, nothing will happen and sometimes everything will be affected. Eckels just had to learn this the hard way.

Many pet owners love their pets as much as their family members. Those people wouldn’t want their pets getting sick or infected with any sort of virus. To do this, they get antibiotics to make sure they stay healthy and live a long life. Of course, too much of anything isn’t good, but some pet owners aren’t aware of this and give too much medicine.

A lot of medicine would be bad for any kind of living organism that is offered to eat it. It is unhealthy because the more antibiotics you feed your body, the more immune the viruses and bacteria will get. They will become used to it and will not be defeated. The point of doctors reminding people to eat their medicines on specific dates is because if the person misses it, they will not kill the right amount of bacteria, if they eat too much, it will end as a result of the bacteria becoming immune.

Humanity and other organisms need to look after themselves to make sure they don’t have too many antibiotics. Antibiotics will be used up and no more will be produced at a certain time that will be enough for the world. Without medicine, people might perish, so we need to use our medication wisely without using too much or too few.

Who do you blame when someone goes back in time and changes history? A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury portrays the main character, Eckels, as a bad guy and the person who should be blamed, but in reality, it is the Time Safari’s fault. They couldn’t guarantee the client’s safety and also threatened Eckels into digging out the bullets even though it’s not his job to do it.

“‘Does this safari guarantee I come back alive?’ ‘We guarantee nothing,” said the official, ‘except the dinosaurs.'”(Bradbury) This shows that the safari can’t be responsible for his safety so why should Eckels be responsible for his actions? We can also infer that the floating path they walk on isn’t 100% safe. They don’t belong here so if they even breathe wrong, things may change.

“‘The bullets! The bullets can’t be left behind. They don’t belong in
the Past; they might change anything. Here’s my knife. Dig them out!'”(Bradbury) Near the end of their journey to the Past, Eckels was forced to go to the dead T-Rex and dig all of the bullets out. The Time Safari is treating their clients the wrong way and they also kill Eckels in the very end.

Some may argue that these weren’t stated in the Terms and Conditions but that is the problem that makes the Time Safari at fault. They do not guarantee the safety of their clients so they should take responsibility for the things that happen that endanger their customers. Even though it is Eckels that caused the negative events to happen, it is the Safari’s fault.

Some people believe that years later, people would one day travel in time. Everyone makes mistakes, some are small, some are big. I would like to travel back in time and change the mistakes that I did. Though is it really a good thing to travel back into time and change history. No, it is not such a good idea because, One, Changing things back in time might change things right now. Second, Learning from mistakes could help people learn. Changing history might cause lots of troubles, too.

One of the reasons why people should not time travel and go back into time is because changing the events in history might affect things right now. In the story A Sound of Thunder, the main character went back in time through a time machine. While in the time where there are still dinosaurs, the main character accidentally stepped on a butterfly, and killed it. When the main character came back his time, he found out the words that people used changed. This is a example of changing something in the pass and it affected things present. Also going back in time and changing events could cause other troubles like changing other people’s lives or even killing them. So changing things in the past is not such a good idea.

The second reason why people should not change history is that people learn from their mistakes. Everyone would make some mistakes in their life, some people would want to change it. Though after making a mistake, people would change and try to do the right thing. If people changed the mistake, they won’t learn from it and there might be the same mistakes that are going to happen. Also, if people are allowed to change the history, they would think it is fine to make mistakes. After making the mistakes, they could go back and fix it any ways. This is not a good way to think.

Changing history might change lots of mistakes, but there might be other mistakes that are worse then the one that is changed. Also changing the events in the past might cause troubles right now. So going on a time machine and changing events in the past might not be such a good idea. No one knows what would happen.

In the year 2055, Mr. Eckels enters the office of Time Safari, Inc. This company offers safaris to the past in order to hunt dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. While waiting for his safari guides, Eckels was expressing his relief that Keith was victorious in the recent presidential election. The official agrees that Keith is the best candidate, asserting that Deutscher would have brought about a dictatorship. He takes another moment to reflect on the danger of the expedition, hands over his check, and departs with the safari guide Mr. Travis. Eckels settles into the Time Machine alongside Travis, and two other hunters.

The Machine goes back through time, and eventually the passengers find themselves in the prehistoric past. Travis emphasizes that the travelers must not disturb the environment and hunters must stay on the Path in order to prevent stepping on any plant or animal. Crushing even the smallest life form, could change the future, not just of nature, but of human society too. Lesperance explains that they can safely shoot the specific animal he has previously marked with paint for them. Soon the T-Rex approaches with a sound of thunder. Eckels is frightened when he sees the overwhelming creature, and he wished to retreat. Lesperance tells him to wait in the Time Machine. Instead, he wanders off the path while the other hunters kill the dinosaur. Travis returns to find Eckels in the Time Machine. Realizing that Eckels walked off the path, Travis yells that his error could ruin the company and threatens to leave him behind. They leave for the future eventually and, when they arrive, Travis orders him to leave and never come back. Eckels, however, lingers for a moment, noticing that small things about the office have changed. He slumps down and, examined his boots, and finds that he has crushed a butterfly. Panicking, he asks the official about the election results and learns that Deutscher has won. After a few moments of pleading to go back and fix things, he waits in silence while Travis aims a gun at him. Eckels hears Travis click the gun’s safety, followed by a sound of thunder.

In the short story “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, there’s an indistinctly meaningful side of the story. Ray Bradbury is known for being a horror, science-fiction, fantasy, and mystery. In almost all of his stories, there is a dark side that is intricately woven into his stories, along with a deliberate theme. Seen in many of his tales like “The Veldt” or “All Summer in a Day”. In this tale, he conveys the theme of “A seemingly small thing could make a huge difference.

Eckel, the cowardly protagonist with death surrounding his thoughts travels back in time to kill a dinosaur, and learns a huge life lesson. Before Eckel travels back in time, Travis, the guide warns Eckel that stepping on a thing as small as an ant could disrupt the entire future world and could even erase humanity. Eckel however is incredulous and continuously asks why he couldn’t step one foot into the ground. After one example, Eckel still thinks that that is a paradox and continues to question. After finally understanding, he agrees. This could foreshadow that in future of the story, he’s going to step foot onto the ground. This is because he repeatedly asks why and does not believe it.

A few minutes after traveling back in time, they arrive to the spot where they are going to shoot the dinosaur. However, the moment the dinosaur steps into view, Eckel is steeped with consternation and panic and immediately backs down and almost sprints back to the time machine. His talking is heard by the dinosaur and it comes towards them. Fortunately, Eckel’s companions are quick to shoot the dinosaur down. After all this confusion, to Eckel’s horror, he indeed has stepped foot in the mud. Travis knows how bad it could be and threatens to leave Eckel stuck in time; but after much argument, Travis hesitantly leads them back to the time machine and travel back in time.

However, to their horror again, something has changed. The atmosphere feels different, and the walls are painted another color. Eckel, pale-faced and sweaty turns his muddy boot upside down and lifts a crushed up exquisite butterfly from his boot. He dreadfully asks the official who is president, and with a reply of “Deutscher”, he knows he screwed up. Eckel drops to the floor, the butterfly falling to the floor beside him. And Travis, cocking his rifle shoots Eckel as a sound of thunder rings across the room.

From this extremely tense scene, we can see that Eckel stepped on a tiny butterfly and changed the entire events of yesterday, and the years before. By stepping on a seemingly small thing, he changed the way words are written, what’s in the air, and who became president. Bradbury illustrates this theme through this sci-fi short story and teaches us an important lesson.

Have you ever thought of traveling back in time?  Well if you have then it is a very very dangerous task. In the short story a group of hunters go on an adventure to hunt down a dinosaur (T-REX). The group faced challenges in their adventure in the past. 

Time travel is  just someone that is traveling back in time and living the life in the past. It may sound weird but it is true! Eckles and a group of hunters had a plan of traveling back in time and hunting this T-REX. Obviously they travel millions of years to get to the spot they are.  

So now we talk about how time travel is very harmful and dengerous. When eckles made the choice to go with the hunters and hunt the animal. He had one very very important task to do. The task was to ALWAYS stay on the path and not go off.  Of course at first when someone is seeing a dinosaur it always seems scary. That is exactly what Eckles felt like. He was really scared and then suddenly went into the bushes. It doesn’t sound that bad but it was a horrible idea. 

When they were back from hunting. Travis noticed a butterfly under Eckles’s foot. It was bad, very bad. Eckles had not noticed how much harm he had done to the world.  Just then Travis pulled out a gun and the lever clicked, and Eckles was gone.It is dangerous because when he stepped in the bush. He accidentally killed a butterfly. That butterfly probably meant so much to the word. This is because animals eat butterflies and animals eat animals so if the animals didn’t have the food they need then the animals might die. This shows that when someone is doing something they will always have to be super focused and have a good outcome unlike Eckles.

A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury is a short story. It is about a man named Mr. Eckels who lives in the year 2055, when time travel is possible. In the story, Eckels pays $10,000 to go on a trip back in time to hunt a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Before they depart, Eckels and the other hunters discuss their opinions on the recent presidential elections, where a man named Keith beat his top competitor, Deutscher. When they arrive, the guide tells them how they must stay on a path that is built 6 inches off the ground in order not to disturb the earth. He explains that stepping off it could kill one mouse, which could leave to all the mice who descended from it to die. He also explains that the Tyrannosaurus Rex is marked with red paint, and would die a few minutes after anyway, as to not have an important effect on the future. When he sees the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Eckels gets afraid and begins to run away. The guide, Travis, tells him to return to the time machine but the disturbed Eckels strays off the path. He hears shots fired, and sees that the other men have succeeded in killing the Tyrannosaurus Rex. When Travis realizes that Eckels had strayed away from the path, he says that he will leave Eckels if he doesn’t take the bullets from the dinosaurs body. When they return, Eckels soon realizes that something is off. Words are spelled differently, and Deutscher has won the election instead of Keith. When he looks down, he sees a crushed butterfly that had created the change for a new present he had returned to. He begs to go back to fix it, but Travis adamantly refuses. Travis takes his gun, and there is a sound of thunder.

The idea for the setting is rather unconvincing, as I doubt that by the year 2055 time travel will be possible. It is already 2020, but this seems to be maybe centuries away. However, I really enjoyed reading this story. I found it interesting and smartly written. I also liked how there were several themes relevant to the story. The sound of thunder at the end implies that Travis had shot Eckels, and Eckels died.

The theme of the story that seems most apparent to me is be careful, because your actions may have unintended consequences. Often, in time travel stories, the main characters are warned not to do anything that might affect the future. In this story, Eckels is careless and runs off the path. He believes that kicking up a little dirt won’t have a big affect on the future. However, because he stepped on the butterfly, it does. If he had stayed on the path, the future would have not changed. He did not intend for that to happen, but it did due to his carelessness.

This story is definitely something that I would recommend to other people because it is written in a very nice way, and the themes are very significant to any time-travel story. Most people enjoy a bit of adventure, so this story is perfect.

I loved this read, and I think it was my favorite story I read in the entire Sunny Youth camp. A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury is definitely a story that I will remember forever.

Imagine a futuristic world where one can travel through time. Go into the past and take a ride on some dinosaurs, or go into the future and get oneself a hoverboard. When the day comes, time travel can become mankind’s reality, but should our species should take the step to decide whether it is safe or not. The short story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury is about a hunter, called Eckels, as he journies into the dinosaur age. The hunter disobeys from rules to follow and ends up changing the present. In the story, Time Safari is the organization that allows time travel. The government needs to ban time travel because it is extremely dangerous and not ethical.

There are so many dangers of the time, this essay would be overflown if all the consequences were listed. First of all, a small minuscule change in the past can lead to catastrophic events. As shown in the story, even an event so small such as Eckels killing a single butterfly can change the English language and even alter a presidential election. This effect is known as the Domino Effect. In the story, the travel leader states how killing a single mouse can cause a fox to lose its food. This starved fox will no longer be the food for a lion, and when humans come, the lion that was hunted for food never existed. Even an accident such as killing a mouse can cause humans to go extinct. No government in the right mind would allow anyone to change time to their liking. Additionally, time-traveling also creates alternate timelines. In the story when Eckels returned from his trip, the world he lived in had an altered language and presidential election. Eckels now lives in this alternate timeline, but the timeline where the butterfly was never killed still exists. Just as simple as that, Eckels unknowingly created an entirely new universe. As the government, they need to ban time travel to prevent such disasters from happening.

Not only does time travel introduce many new dangers to humanity, but it also is completely unethical. Some characteristics of unethical behaviors include serious manipulation, robbery, murder, human experiments. With the addition of time travel, all of these behaviors can be achieved with little to no difficulty. Time travel will theoretically bring along the ability to see the future. With this ability, one can see possible outcomes, and avoid those which bring one failure. Infinitely avoiding failure can help people rob banks, murder people, and opens an entire gallery of easy-to-perform unethical actions. Furthermore, with everyone altering time to their willingness, million of alternate timelines will be created every day, causing the entire planet Earth to be manipulated. Time travel is extremely unethical and needs to be banned. If the world miraculously comes up with a way to connect timelines and create a network of time, time travel could become an option, but only if the government prohibits the action of committing unethical acts.

Skeptics argue time travel would be a blast for those with curious minds and are eager to see the past and future. Critics also state time travel should be allowed if the creation of alternate timelines can be prevented, but this assumption is feeble-minded. As previously, stated the act of traveling through time even for a millisecond can completely change the universe. For example, if one travels into the past and breaths, a virus can travel into the past atmosphere. This virus causes no harm to live beings in the present, but it could eliminate entire species in the past because basically nothing has immunity to it. Even if one doesn’t breathe, somehow, dead skin cells can fall on the ground and cause changes. Some people are so curious to time travel, they’d die for it, but that would still create an alternate timeline, which is harmful to the entirety of humanity, not just the single individual.

Although time travel seems wonderful, one has to first consider the consequences. Time travel is extremely dangerous as a small change can cause catastrophic events and it will also create alternate timelines. Time travel is also extremely unethical. Should time travel be banned and humans live life normally, or should time travel be allowed and arise chaos everywhere? The decision is obvious.

An infectious disease went from one population center to another. Hordes of people died as leaders tried to recover from public and economic health. This is not about Covid-19. Instead, it’s about the ancient Roman Empire, where a disease known as the Antonine Plague spread from Egypt to continental Europe and the British Isles. We don’t have accurate data about the Antonine Plague, but written accounts from that time point to huge amounts of deaths. It was not the first disease, but it was probably the first pandemic.

The Antonine Plague and other epidemics and pandemics that came before the 20th century, vaccines, and medical knowledge hold lessons, but not answers for COVID-19. One lesson is important: Societies can’t avoid outbreaks, but they can withstand severe pandemics. Past political systems have found ways to come back from mass illness and large numbers of deaths.

The Antonine Plague struck in the late 160s. Though millions of people died, the empire was big, so it left about -90 percent of the empire’s population still alive. Reorganization and sharing were required to fix food shortages and an economic decline from the pandemic. The leaders’ wealth and knowledge helped Romans to improve conditions in the empire’s provinces, and governments were given greater power to solve local issues. There are other pandemics and epidemics that teach us lessons too.

The last thing to know is to not forget what happened because another outbreak will probably arrive when it is least expected. The influenza pandemic of 1918 and 1919, which killed about 50 million people worldwide, was soon forgotten by many people. Scientists have warned for the last 20 years that new pandemics and epidemics were likely to happen. Yet the United States and other countries were completely unprepared for COVID-19.