The Horrifying World Forster Creates in The Machine Stops

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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.

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