A Glimpse into the Future in "The Machine Stops"

We all look in to the future and hope to see our world different and filled with news things. The problem is we can’t see what will become of us and what is in store. In “The Machine Stops”, by E. M. Foster, a world never imagined is played out in to a short story, wrote in 1909. Paul Rajilich, who brought the story to light, states that Foster’s story has several notions of invention that have come true throughout history, after 1909.

Foster’s ideas of inventions have become relevant in today’s society, from when it was wrote in 1909.Along with the relevance in today’s life, this short story acts as a teaching tool to all that read it. As the times are changing, and the world is evolving, we are inventing new ideas and new machines. “The machine stops”, has underlining inventions that have evolved into greater machines that Foster may have predicted. Some of the notions include, air plans, which are called air-ships, in the story they are used to carry passengers to different destinations just as they are today.

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Movies are a part of our day to day life but in 1909, Foster envisioned a cinematophones, which project movie like projection on a viewing screen. Some of the inventions have similar names to the names we use now like, oxygen tank, an apparatus that carry’s oxygen to a person, but in “The Machine Stops”, they call this a respirator. The biggest invention that plays into today’s life is the machine itself, we look at this as our brain it controls our movements and our thoughts day to day.

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In “The Machine Stops”, the machine does everything for the citizens, it controls what they do and when.

Foster’s story acts like a window into the minds of the inventers who developed some of these apparatus. Technology will always be relevant to everyone’s world some way or another in our society. Specifically in “The Machine Stops”, the citizens live in honey comb like houses, and everything revolves around the machine. The residents of these houses look to the machines for everything from communication, food, entertainment, and to their health. In today’s world, the technology that’s offered gives people the opportunity to develop resources to live in their own homes for long periods of time.

In the story the residents communicate through an apparatus that the machine brings to them; in today’s society we use our computer and phones so that we can see and talk to people on programs like Skype at home. Connection to the outside world is easier now that we have access to the internet, we can obtain food, a job, and have a good social connection online. Over the years, technology has changed drastically, but in Foster’s story many of the ideas are still relevant today.

In our society, citizens have surrounded themselves by technology, from the way they communicate to the way they view entertainment. Rajilich’s claim of “The Machine stops” is completely true, that the story has many connections to the society today. In the story it refers people can live in a bubble like form, which can be possible in today’s world with all the technology that is offered. With the technology changing daily and new inventions developing, society will forever be changing form to adapt to new technology.

Updated: Nov 20, 2023
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A Glimpse into the Future in "The Machine Stops". (2017, Mar 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/re-the-machine-stops-essay

A Glimpse into the Future in "The Machine Stops" essay
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