Previous
Foreshadowing
Genre
Explanation and Analysis:
“The Machine Stops” is a short story in the science fiction genre. Science fiction emerged in the 19th century as writers began to tell stories focused on the relationship between humans and science, specifically vis-à-vis new advancements in technology. With “The Machine Stops,” Forster is clearly responding to the technological changes happening at the turn of the 20th century, such as the invention of the telephone and the airplane. This comes across in the ways that Vashti is able to videoconference with Kuno from halfway across the world and how she takes an “air-ship” (which is very similar to an airplane) to go visit him.
This story is not only a work of science fiction but also of dystopian fiction. While many science fiction writers were interested in exploring the exciting possibilities of scientific and technological advancements, Forster is, with this story, showing the potential threat of such advancements. Dystopian literature depicts fictional (often futuristic) societies characterized by immense suffering and injustice—societies often ending in bleak and unsettling ways—and “The Machine Stops” meets these criteria.
For example, while Vashti spends most of the story believing that she is happy with her comfortable life in the underground society, as the Machine fails and society collapses around her, she realizes how wrong she was. In this moment, she watches people “dying by hundreds out in the dark” and weeps over how much technology took from her (and from humanity as a whole). That the story ends with both of the main characters dying along with the masses, unable to find freedom, makes this a work of dystopian literature.
Related Themes:
