A Sound of Thunder
By Justin Park and Parker Geary
Different Moods Throughout the Story
In the beginning of the story, the mood is suspenseful. One of the things the author says is the story is, “‘Does this safari guarantee I come back alive?’’ ‘We guarantee nothing,’ said the official.” This shows that the mood is suspenseful because it leaves you hanging on whether or not the safari is safe, and if everyone comes back alive. It makes you wonder what is out there and how dangerous it could get. Another thing that the author says in the story is, “Destroy this one man, and you destroy a race, a people, an entire history of life.” This shows that the mood is suspenseful because there’s a lot of risk involved in the safari, and you don’t know if someone on the trip is going to accidentally step of the path and affect the future.
The mood in the middle of the story changes to thrilling. In the text, it says, "But if you come back this morning in Time," said Eckels eagerly, you must've bumped into us, our Safari! How did it turn out? Was it successful? Did all of us get through-alive?" This shows that the mood is thrilling because again you don't know what is going to happen, so it is kind of exciting in the moment. Another piece of text states, "I've hunted tiger, wild boar, buffalo, elephant, but now, this is it," said Eckels. "I'm shaking like a kid." This shows that the mood is thrilling because he is literally shaking with excitement because of circumstances of shooting the beast. For him it is really fascinating because he has already seen other animals but nothing could come close to the event that is going to take place. The last mood in the end of the story transitions to anxious. In the story, the author says “Eckels stood smelling of the air, and there was a thing to the air, a chemical taint so subtle, so slight, that only a faint cry of his subliminal senses warned him it was there. ”This shows that the mood is anxious because the air is different than what he is used to. Since Eckels stepped off the path, he might have changed the future. The author also says, “It couldn’t change things. Killing one butterfly couldn’t have been important! Could it?” I know that the mood is anxious because Eckels is worried that he changed the future by killing the butterfly. He is also concerned about Travis, who was already mad at him for stepping off the path and threatened to kill him. Now that Travis knows that Eckels also killed a butterfly, he might be angered again.
What about the mood
Something I noticed about the mood of the different parts of the story was that they all show that is building up to something dangerous or life threatening. And the mood remains static throughout the whole story making you anticipate what is gonna happen or what is gonna go wrong (Which you know something is going to go wrong).
The Setting
This story takes place far enough in the future to where there is a time machine available. It takes place in the United States, where a presidential election had just taken place. When they go back in time, they end up in a lush forest over millions of years from where they came from. There, they also see a metal path that hovers over the forest floor, and it leads into the forest.
The Impact of the setting
Since the setting is placed in the future, it is possible for them to time travel which is what most of this movie revolves around. If there wasn't the fact that it was set in the future then it wouldn't be possible for them to go back in time and hunt the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Another thing that would have changed if the setting wasn't set in the future, was the domino effect risk factor. With domino effect they had to very careful and if they weren't then there was the possibility that something bad could take place, such as the tyrant Deutscher becoming president instead of the other candidate Keith. And that was just because Eckels killed a butterfly back in time. This just goes to show that they wouldn't have been able to control it.