Critical Essay - “A Sound Of Thunder” Vs. “Nethe

595 Words3 Pages
“A Sound of Thunder” and “Nethergrave” are both good science fiction stories. I preferred “A Sound of Thunder” over the “Nethergrave”. “A Sound of Thunder” seemed to have more excitement, and you could not wait to find out what was going to happen when they returned from the past. “Nethergrave” seemed slow and not as exciting. It didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat. I find it fascinating that these stories were written so long ago. The authors had a wonderful imagination and in some ways a little bit of insight into the future. The description of the technology used in “A Sound of Thunder” was incredible. When Eckels first sees the Time Machine, “he looks and sees a mass and tangle, a snaking and humming of wires and steel boxes. He also sees an aurora that flickered orange, silver, and blue. There was a humming sound like a bonfire burning all the years.” (pg. 288) This is a great way to describe the Time Machine. In “A Sound of Thunder” you feel the intensity almost the whole time. You can almost feel Eckels fear when he finally sees the T-Rex. It is interesting how he seemed so excited to go back in time and hunt a dinosaur, yet, he wimped out when he was really there. The sound of thunder being the dinosaur was a great description. At the end, the sound of thunder is left to our own interpretation. “Nethergrave” didn’t seem to have as much emphasis on technology. At the first of the story, there is so much devoted to describing Jeremy’s day. It is understood that this is important in order to understand the character, but it seemed to be too much. It made the story feel like it was dragging on without point or reason. Then when it does get to the computer technology, it is over way too soon. At times you are not sure if it’s really the computer of just Jeremy’s imagination. He makes up a lot of stories about himself because he feels like he is a pitiful
Open Document