Eckles's Fatal Mistakes
As Eckels, the main character in Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder,” handed the check for ten thousand dollars to the man behind the desk at Time Safari, Inc., he probably thought he was making a decision that would change everyone’s life forever. Had he considered that, he might have taken the man’s off when he said, “Your personal check’s still there. Tear it u” and never have gone on the dinosaur safari. Choosing to pay for and go on a time travel hunting safari was just the beginning of Eckels mistakes. Ray Bradbury presents Eckels as a nervous, immature, irresponsible man, whose mistakes in character cost everyone dearly. Eckels begins his series of mistakes by being mentally unprepared. “Eckels swayed on the padded seat, his face pale, his jaw stiff. He felt the trembling in his arm and he looked down and found his hands tight on the new rifle”. Bradbury continues t display Eckels’s flaw by writing, “can these guns get a dinosaur cold? Eckels felt his mouth saying”. if Eckels is swaying, fading color, stiffening jaw, trembling, unknowingly holding a rifle, and feeling his mouth speaking, he cannot be prepared. A man paying thousands of dollars to a time travel organization so that he can shoot a dinosaur should not be so anxious. A prepared man would sit confidently in his padded seat, thinking of all of the possibilities. He would know how the animal would look, how it would move, where he would shoot, and what his backup plans would be. Few, if any, scenarios would not be played out in his head as he made sure his gun was ready and he discussed the kill with the others whose advice he desired and respected since they were seasoned in this area. Mentally prepared to hunt a two thousand pound monster, not a nervous wreck, is what Eckels should have been. Since Eckels was actually a nervous wreck, it makes sense that he would also be immature. After Travis and Lesperance, Time Safari, inc. employees, spend much time explaining the possible domino effect