As demonstrated in the short story “A Sound of Thunder,” written by Ray Bradbury, small actions can have immense effects, whether intended or unintended. Eckels pursued an adventurous hunt 60 millions years into the Past, when dinosaurs existed. Travis, Lesperance, Billings, and Kramer all were on the trip with Eckles. While they were in the Past, they were given strict expectations on what could and could not be done. The most important guideline they were given was to not step off the path made for them at any given moment. The tour guides, Travis and Lesperance, warned that if they were to step off the path they would influence many important things in the present day/future. These expectations were blatantly ignored when Eckels encountered the gargantuan T-Rex and instantaneously panicked, causing him to step off the path and kill a butterfly unknowingly. In doing so, he influences many things in the present. The election results were changed, the alphabet was changed, and the entirety of the world changed. Through these events, it became clear to the audience that the small mistakes Eckles made throughout the Past had a life-changing impact on the world he knew.
Making one small mistake in the past can echo out into the future and result in bigger consequences than imagined. “We don’t want to change the Future. We don’t belong here in the Past…A Time Machine is finicky business. Not knowing it, we might kill an important animal, a small bird, a roach, a flower even, thus destroying an important link to a growing species”(3). Travis’ description of the consequences that result from changing the Past explains that going back into the Past can be really dangerous. He explains that even the slightest error made in the Past can lead to the biggest, most severe consequence known to mankind, changing the world that is known today. As stated in the text, killing an animal, or even a plant, can cause a growing species to become endangered or even extinct. Eckels had his own experience with the Past that made clear how unpredictable the consequences are. “[Eckels] felt himself fall into a chair. He fumbled crazily at the thick slime on his boot. He held up a clod of dirt, trembling ‘No, it can’t be. Not a little thing like that. No’”(9). Eckels’ own experience with impacting the past showed the dangers of doing so. When he returned from the hunting trip and saw how bizarre the "new” world was, he knew what he had done. He realized that stepping on the butterfly caused a chain reaction of unfortunate events in the present time.
When Eckels stepped on a butterfly while he was in the Past, it changed the future. This was proved when Eckels returned to present day. “But immediate thing was the sign painted on the office wall, the same sign he had read earlier today on first entering. Somehow, the sign had changed: TYME SEFARI INC. SEFARIS TU ANY YEER EN THE PAST. YU NAIM THE ANIMALL. WEE TAEK YU THAIR. YU SHOOT ITT” (9). This excerpt illustrated that when Eckels stepped on a butterfly in the Past, it changed the future because when they went back into present day, the language that they used had changed. Things such as the alphabet, spelling, and punctuation were changed. Not only had the language changed, but the presidential election results changed as well. Before Eckels was sent on the hunt, Keith won the election. After he returned from the hunt, making the error that he did, he asked the man at the desk who had won the election to ensure that he did not change the present. “His face was cold. His mouth trembled, asking; ‘Who- who won the presidential election yesterday?’ The man behind the desk laughed. ‘You joking? You know very well, Deutscher, of course! Who else? Not that fool weakling Keith. We got an iron man now, a man with guts!’”(9). In a similar fashion to the quote mentioned previously, Eckels realized how his minimal actions created such a disproportionate effect in the “new” present.This portrays that even something as big as election results can be changed because of a tiny, accidental, mistake done in history.
Ray Bradbury shows the dangers of going into the Past and tampering with things that have already been done. Whether intentional or accidental, history is not something that is meant to be changed. Eckels learned this when he stepped off the path and crushed a tiny butterfly, changing the world that he knew completely. Eckels’ decision can not only be used a lesson in his life, but also as a lesson for all people. Many are faced with decisions in the present that could have a significant impact on their futures The next time you make a reckless decision, will you think about the consequences and redirect yourself or face the consequences after it’s done?