Imagine going back in time to hunt a t-rex. A sheet of fog sets in as the t-rex climbs over a hill not too far from where you are. Then it all goes wrong. That is just what happens in the short story "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury. The story fits most of the criteria of the Ironic mode of literature.
"A Sound of Thunder" fits all but one point on the irony plotline. The one point that doesn't fit is the world is in chaos. When Eckels fell off the path, that was the major conflict. And finally, death or loss of sanity is when Eckels gets back to the present. That is so because Eckels noticed the words on the sign were spelled weird, so he looked down at his boots and saw a dead butterfly stuck to the bottom, he had altered the universe. Lesperance, the safari guide, was right when he said it might alter some thing little like the way we speak.
Like the plotline, Ray's short story almost matches all the characteristics. It was highly unrealistic as well as a nightmare vision of reality. For the main character is not in control and also the main character is stupid, weak and can do no right was when Eckels went the wrong way and fell off the path. I didn't find anything for good is weak, but for bad is strong the t-rex was bigger than they expected.
In addition to not completely matching the ironic mode of literature , there wasn't a lot of symbolism either. They mentioned red, from when the safari guides marked the dinosaur. Also, they mentioned nightfall, when they started up the time machine. Maybe the dinosaur could be symbolism because it's kind of like a snake and a dragon. That was really all the symbolism I could find.
Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" almost matches the Ironic mode of literature. In the story, one dead butterfly altered the way they spoke. What do you think would happen to the present day if someone killed a butterfly a million years ago?
