The Machine Stops

The story “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster is a very engaging story , right from the beginning it starts making you imagine things in your head, it opens to a whole new world. The Story involves two main characters. A mother and a son , their names were Vashti and Kuno. They live completely opposite from each other. In this world the author created Humans aren’t able to live above the earth’s surface, they live underground. The whole living civilization underground. But thanks to the technology that they have many have been able to live for so long. In this Story, technology starts looking like a good thing , like a great tool that human rely on. The story explains the life Vashti lives, and her lectures and talks she has with other people, but in this world thanks to technology they dnot have to physically see each other in other to talk, now it’s rare when people physically see each other. It’s like instant messaging but they can see each other virtually. I feel like it’s like a virtual thing where you see the person, you hear them, but you can’t literally touch them. And the story says Vashti has a conversation with her Son. But the conversation quickly gets serious when her son has to tell her something. He explains it’s something really serious and that he can’t say it through the way they were communicating. She asked why, if she could see him and hear him, but he didn’t feel it was good enough. She didn’t want to travel. This this underground world , it’s really rare when someone travels, so she really didn’t want to travel. Many have gotten used being in their cells, since it provides them with anything they need. Her son got mad but at the end she ended up going . While she traveled she had so many difficulties and she wasn’t happy about it. When she got to him , she argued to him all she had gone through. But he didn’t care and just explained he was going to die. It was a shocking part for me because of a simple thing he didn’t follow , it was unfair to me!  If people don’t do things the way it is to be, it’s bad , so basically you can’t do things in your own type of way. This then turns into an argument , she doesn’t support in the things her son does,he compared her to the committee, that she reacted the same, what he told her was really shocking to me . “You are beginning to worship the Machine, He said coldly (Forster pg 11).” He was explainging that she was making the Machine as a god. she denied it, but honestly everyone except this kid Kuno is worshiping the Machine. It bothered me a little because people nowadays can’t be without their phones. If I panic when I loose my phone for a minute, imagine the world in a few years. Is this story some how a reflection of how our world might turn out to be.

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