- The machine society compared to today’s society
- The machine society compared to today’s society
The Machine Stops

The science fiction short story (novella) The Machine Stops is written by E.M Forster in 1909. The story is about a lady, Vashti, and her son Kuno. They live in a future world ruled by a machine. In this world, all the people live in their own cells with a lot of buttons, a desk and one book. Every day, they do the same things over and over again:

“She made the room dark and slept; she awoke and made the room light; she ate and exchanged ideas with her friends, and listened to music and attended lectures; she made the room dark and slept”.

This one book is so to speak their ‘bible’. This is a book about the machine and its functions and rules. The people in this society live after certain principles organized by the machine, such as: “[…] bringing people to things, instead of bringing things to people”. In the story, Forster pictures Vashti as very supportive to, and excited about, the machine. In contrast, her son Kuno is described as very sceptical and rebellious.

Because the society rules and norms made by the machine are such big issues in the story, I would also like to focus on this. This society is not only described in the story, it is also the topic of a continuous discussion between Vashti and Kuno. As mentioned, Vashti fits very well into the clear rules and ascetic living of this dystopian society. In this world, human interactions are not necessary and therefore not accepted as normal behaviour: “People never touched one another”, something that Vashti is fine with. But why does Vashti want to live like that? Who can do without personal contact and loving care?

In the story, the machine is described as very mysterious and highly respected: “How we have advanced, thanks to the Machine!”. Maybe Vashti and all her