What Is the Theme in “A Sound of Thunder?”
The main theme of “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury is the speculative influence of seemingly unimportant events from the past to the present time. The first to introduce the scientific foundations of such influence was Edward Lorenz, a decade after the publication of Bradbury’s story.
“A Sound of Thunder” first appeared in print in Collier’s magazine in June 1952. The setting of the story is the year 2055, when time travel is a reality. Eckels, the wealthy protagonist of the story, sets off into prehistory to kill a dinosaur in an event organized by Time Safari, Inc. The rules of the safari ban any interaction with the surroundings to avoid any changes in the future. However, the accidental killing of a butterfly by Eckels results in America becoming a dystopian dictatorship.