The Horrifying World Forster Creates in The Machine Stops
In "The Machine Stops" Forster creates a world set in the future,
where machines rule. In fact, machines run life so much so that human
beings, by this time, have adapted accordingly to life and the
lifestyle it brings. "In the arm-chair there sits a swaddled lump of
flesh - a woman, about five feet high, with a face as white as a
fungus," Forster writes. This is a pretty horrific description because
it shows us that in the world Forster has created, people get no
exercise whatsoever. There is in fact no need to get any exercise with
the life the humans lead under the control of The Machine. "Infants
[are] examined at birth, and all who [promise] to endue strength [are]
destroyed…it would [be] no true kindness to let an athlete live; he
would never [be] happy in that state of life to which the Machine had
called him." Therefore, humans have whittled down to shorter heights
as they do not get outside of their rooms often, therefore diminishing
this need, and they also consequently get no sunlight. These factors
combined lead to people who are deathly white and resemble
out-of-shape "blobs" from basically being hunched on a seat
constantly.
More frightening than this, and so this is truly scary, is the
lifestyle the Machine is described as giving in the story. The people
need only push a button and whatever they require will appear there at
their fingertips. This seems like a comfortable enough life, but
instead of having more control under The Machine, it is in fact the
exact opposite. With The Machine an almost constant life of luxury is
created, but the question presen...
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...t the same time. In fact, the life in the world Forster
creates can be summed up in one sentence. Forster writes: "Men seldom
moved their bodies; all unrest was concentrated in the soul."
This world is scary because it seems that in the present day, in the
real world, society is only one step behind that in the story! And so
the question presents itself: what would life be like if we let the
technology we have now go one step further? The life is frightening,
and there is a lesson to be learnt. We should not let ourselves become
so dependent on machines, because "[machines] are much, but they are
not everything." After all, we still want change in our lives; we also
still want some nature. But finally, and above all, we still want to
feel - emotions and touch - or else, as in "The Machine Stops", our
world is doomed.
The repercussions of treating sentient life as monsters or miscreation’s is disastrous. When non-human conscious life is created it is easier to treat these creations as outsiders rather than accepting them. There are two stories that show this clearly. The novel Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly and the film Ex Machina by Alex Garland. When self-conscious life is created it must be treated as such.
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