Preview

The Machine Stops Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1027 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Machine Stops Analysis
Technology is the sum of the ways in which social groups provide themselves with the material objects of their civilization. In addition, technology has become a basic necessity for people all around the world. Not only does technology have positive effects on how people function in the world, but it also has many negative effects. On a similar topic, technology has improved the way we live very much, but people have become extremely dependent on it, almost to the point to where we could not live without it. The book “The Machine Stops” could be accurately compared to the way people around the world live their lives. For example, In “The Machine Stops” their society became so dependent on technology, that when technology died, the people died …show more content…
In “The Machine Stops,” one major way that people entertained themselves is through music. For example, to keep the people occupied, The Machine provided them with music while they did their everyday activities. These people became so dependent on their music, that when the music began to develop problems, the people became very confused. In “The Machine Stops,” Vashti notices the problem with the music and she says, “I suppose, to the trouble, there has been lately with the music?” Vashti expresses her confusion and disappointment when she talks about the problems with the music. In the same way, people today have become very dependent on music. For example, when people drive in their car, they always have music playing. In addition, when the music in the car stops playing, people become very annoyed and uncomfortable. Similarly, people today also listen to music while walking down the sidewalk, working out, and even while sitting in their bed at home. Sadly, people today have become so dependent on music that when they don’t have it, they do not know how to react. Another piece of technology that people have become dependent on, is computers. With computers, people are able to access videos much like how people in “The Machine Stops” access their lectures through the machine. For example, people in “The Machine Stops” were able to watch their lectures through a computer and watch it …show more content…
In “The Machine Stops,” The Machine provides the people with food, automatic beds, and medicine. For example, when Vashti was hungry, The Machine provided her with food at the push of a button. The Machine also provided her with medicine when she was sick. Another example is when she was tired; her bed would automatically fold out for her. This is scarily similar to the way people live their lives today. Sadly, people do not even have to go out to get food anymore. Although many people still do, people have the opportunity to have their food delivered to them. Also, people have their medicine delivered to them in the same way that food can be delivered. The final comparison is automatic beds. People today are able to push one button and have their beds fold out for them. Although this is much like “The Machine Stops,” we have also made advancement with automatic beds. With the push of a button, people are able to have their beds massage them as they go to sleep. When people have all of these luxuries, why would anyone want to leave their houses

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    All of our technology has come a very long way over the years. From the very first phone or television that was invented, it is unbelievable how these same devices look and function in today’s world. You now have flat screen televisions instead of tube televisions. We advanced from the first phone to now having satellite phones and cell phones. Modern technology is very amazing in one aspect, but very crippling to us in another. We have become so dependent on it that we would be lost without all of our gadgets.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Technology over the years have improved in drastic ways over the centuries and are getting more involved in our daily lives some in good ways but some are bad. Technology has cut off the way humans interact and speak distracting them from doing basic things like talking, cutting off any social interactions hiding behind a screen. People stop talking to their families, when they do talk they feel very uncomfortable and out of place. Ray Bradbury shows examples of technology getting in the way in his book Fahrenheit 451. Ray shows the readers how the power of technology does affect people in many ways in his book how it suppresses and replaces true human interaction.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book, there is a short story, “The Veldt”, that describes users of technology in the future and their dependence on it. The family lives in a home filled with machines that do everything for its owners. It is called the Happylife Home. The two children, Peter and Wendy, become fascinated with the nursery which connects to the children telepathically and projects what they imagine. They soon become attached to the room and replace their parents with the electronics. The parents realize the home is taking away from their lives since they are not living to the fullest. They decide to correct their way of life by leaving the home, but it’s too late because the children became addicted and attached. Peter and Wendy kill their parents by locking them in the nursery and letting the machines kill them. Ray Bradbury predicts in the future, people will have luxuries of doing nothing at all because high tech electronics will replace them to do their work. It seems like the future makes peoples lives better because they are at ease and relaxing. However, it is actually wasting their lives away. They replace normal activities in life and even harm its owners. Despite the story being fiction, it can be related to the present and people’s dependency on electronics. “The Veldt” is a very good example of technological changes that deplete peoples’ lives.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the society today, technology is over taking the world. People are becoming more and more dependent on it. With that being said, The Machine Stops and the world today have a lot in common. If it were not for technology, many people would be devastated. The Machine Stops is an old book based off of creativity, but who would have thought that it would relate so well to the world today. The only difference is the environment people live in.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In this generation, technology and society go hand and hand. Technology and human life cannot be separated in the perspective of various people. Society has grown to have a co-dependence on technology. As stated by Fareed ZakAria in his article “How to Restore the American dream”, “technology is not only affecting society, but its creating a better reality. Everything is able to be achieved through ease” (Zakaria 460). In a broader view, we depend on technology for everything. Each individual in the world today uses this new entity in their daily lives. The use has become too great, that most of the time it’s viewed as a habit. The demand for technology keeps on increasing everyday as we use technology to travel, to communicate, to learn, and to handling business but most importantly, to live in peace and comfort. In the article, “Technology & Society: A Canadian Perspective”, the authors said the following about technology. “Technology and Society, we are told exist in a dynamic reciprocal relationship; they act on, and react to, one another” (Goyder and Aant). Without technology society is able to…

    • 1722 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Technology does not have a simple positive or negative effect on individuals in society. "Peace, Technology, and the Role of Ordinary People", is one person 's eccentric view of the negative connotations associated with technology. Military technology provides us with the global power to protect citizens in the event of war. The money invested in technology is equivalent to what is used to pay workers ' salaries. Economic changes in society are as important to world leaders as they are to the ordinary man. In "Peace, Technology, and the Role of Ordinary People", technology is neither positive nor negative in its uses, but rather dependent upon its users.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Innovation through machinery or lack thereof, is a consistent motif found within both utopian and dystopian novels and movies. These stories provide a wide array of opinions about the role of machines in life. Certain authors, such as Bellamy, would argue advancements and use of machinery is necessary to push society to a better, brighter future. However, reading Forster’s The Machine Stops makes one question the influence of machinery in our lives. Technology, like most things in life, can be considered both enslaving and liberating. In the 21st century it has allowed individuals to see and speak with loved ones half a world away. At the same time, there is a dependence and constant need to have our cell phones in our hands. Rather…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The rising advancement of technology, and more in the future has caused the individuals to be increasingly dependent on the usage of the equipment. For example, in ‘The Veldt’, the Hadley’s were all completely dependent on the machine that they had in their Happylife Home which this has brought the family numerous convenience where the family need not to do anything. This has resulted in the over reliance to the technology as in the story in the future, the individuals in the future will not know the technique of doing their own stuffs, like tie their own shoelace, "That sounds dreadful! Would I have to tie my own shoes instead of letting the shoe tier do it”. This has developed the irresponsibility and dependency of the individuals in the near future towards technology. Moreover, in ‘Marionettes Inc.’, the creation of Brailing Two has evidenced that the irresponsibility of Brailing creates his clone robot in order to escape from his wife for a trip which is unethical to the marriage. Therefore, this evidenced that the social concern is raised as of the irresponsibility of the individuals with use of technology in the…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “In just the past decade or two… [With] the increasing importance of technology in our world… science and technology are just as amenable to social analysis as politics or religion.”[1] The effects that technology has on society and vice versa have changed and evolved since the Technological Revolution of the late 19th century, just as the technology has. “Scholars now talk about how the push and pull between technology and society, rather than just the push of technology on society.”[1]…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Machine Stops

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Machine Stop’s published in 1909 by E. M Forster is an amazing prediction of a future where humans live below the surface of the earth in “The Machine.”Connected by something similar to the internet and communicating only by webcam, their every need is met and physical contact has become obsolete. There is a lot in this story that can be compared with our lives now in regards to dependence on technology and the way that it controls our lives, I am going to discuss that in this paper along with how this story and David Strong’s article can be compared. I will try to analyze the time’s that Forster grew up in and the impact they may have had on his view of the future, also the benefits and downfalls of modern technologies and a quick summary of the novella by Forster.…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story, “The Veldt”, written by Ray Bradbury, is one of the literatures that talks about the effects of technology in a negative point of view. The story is introduced in a futuristic setting, a sound-proofed Happylife Home, where the Hadley family lives with the advanced technology. The machines are capable of fulfilling all the family’s needs and desires such as cleaning, clothing, feeding, and even rocking them to sleep. In the beginning, the technology seems as a major advantage of the house, however, it leads to the point of the parents gaining stress, rather than being helpful. As a result of the family’s dependency on technology, they are unable to act independently and communicate meaningfully.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Machine Stops

    • 180 Words
    • 1 Page

    The quest for efficiency knows no limits. Humans, seeking a more perfect life, strive endlessly to create a society that will run more smoothly tomorrow than it did today. In an efficient world, there is no room for error, no room for humanity. Peak efficiency can only be achieved when emotions and desires are put aside in order to objectively approach each situation. Unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, humans are not capable of this sort of blatant objectivism. It follows, then, that humans are not capable of perfect efficiency. To circumvent this, we have created machines. A computer, armed with artificial intelligence, is much better at analysis and reason. In E. M. Forster's short story, “The Machine Stops”, mankind has completely…

    • 180 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Technology and People

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Technology is not something that one can ignore, as it is being developed all the time around us, and is included everyday of our lives. Technology shapes the world and has both positive and negative effects. Technology has made huge advancements in society. People can save more time, receive better education, faster communication, advance health services, as well as many other benefits. However, modern technology might cause problems too. In “The Back draft of Technology” Stephanie Alaimo and Mark Koester discuss many disadvantages of modern technology in society. They state that because of the increasing use modern technology, a growing number of people are observing more problems now more than ever. Problems such as unemployment, losing human interaction, bad economy, and so much more than one can imagine are bad effects of advance technology. The tone of the essay is not optimistic on mechanization in every area of life. Alaimo and Koester give warning to their readers about negative causes and effects of mechanization at present time and also in the future. Alaimo and Koester are correct. Although technology helps human beings to adapt an easier way of life, in the long term it might not be as helpful as people realize, and it could bring too many problems such as unfair competition, unemployment, and complex life for society.…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Technology, it is what defines a nation. Societies are ever changing with the incorporation of upgraded devices that make lives run faster, more efficient, and more dependent on the systems that man has created. Technology has impacted lives by making modern medicine obtainable and statistical information readable. Technology has made education possible in every person’s home that has access to a computer and the internet. Technology has predicted natural disasters, brought loved ones home, and has even done the grocery shopping. Technology has made miracles take place. Technology is an asset to our society. Things we could not do with our anatomical brains we can conjure up with a machine. With the answers to simple questions at fingertips with the availability of the internet, simple thought processes replaced with instant gratification. Critical thinking is almost extinct due to rapid response internet websites and databases. In today’s society, we depend on computers and technology to dictate schedules, lead meetings, and manage social lives. Therefore, ruing personal bonds, destroying critical and creative thinking, and losing common sense.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    From day to day, our world has been changed gradually from one condition to another. New ideas always come up to the minds of every people to make the living better. Nowadays, technology has advanced in tremendous leaps and bounds. We cannot imagine the world without technological advances such as computer, televisions, machines and so on. However there are some advantages and disadvantages of technology.…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics