Compare and Contrast Essay on The Machine Stops

Introduction

The Machine Stops is a short story by E.M. Forster that tells a story of a human civilization that lives in a dystopian society that is dependent on a system is known as "The Machine." In the story, the human society has lost interest in the surface world, and they spend most of their time in their highly advanced rooms that offers almost everything they need. Human society has no interest in returning to the surface world. Most of their communication occurs through holograms and other technological devices. They lack originality as every idea formulated is an improvement of a previously expressed opinion. One man, Kuno stands out as he seeks to explore the surface world. He dares to challenge the system in a move that poses a high risk to his life.

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"The Machine Stops" is a complete opposite to "Beowulf." The former shows a society that is obsessed with avoiding conflict. The Machine, which is the system they live under is designed to avoid any possibility of conflict in human lives, and that is the reason humans don't have personal interactions anymore. To them conflicts are unnecessary, and they human society is better off without conflict. "Beowulf" on the other hand describes a society obsessed with conflict. Beowulf who is the story's main character has gained a lot of fame from his battles across the kingdom. He has defeated all the enemies he has ever come across, and he is not afraid of fighting for his home and what he believes in. The society, in general, glorifies people like Beowulf. Warriors with a superior track record on the battlefield. This is a contrast between the two communities.

It would seem that "The Machine Stops" and "The Pardoner's Tale" have a few instances of similarities. "The Machine Stops" represents a lazy society that isn't willing to work hard for what they want. They want the good lifestyle but are unwilling to undergo the pain and hardship of acquiring it. They want the good stuff in life but are unwilling to work hard for it. On the other hand, "The Pardoner's Tale" tells the story of a generation willing to cut shortcuts to get the best in life. They want to get the best things in life but would not follow the path they are supposed to. Instead, they rely on betrayal to achieve get these things in life. Both societies want the good things in life, but while one society isn't willing to work hard for it, the other one prefers to use backdoors.

"Of Studies" by Sir Francis Bacon is meant to teach people on the importance of reading. The author reminds his readers that reading alone is not enough and for the reader to get the full benefits of reading they have to be selective about the type of material they choose to read. The essay seems to be dangling from a different angle until the last part when the author includes learning from nature as part of reading. Learning from nature is something the human society in "The Machine Stops" lacked in its entirety. They had no access or interest to accessing the surface world. They, therefore, missed out on this aspect of studying which enhances human brain by removing defects.

Another comparison can be drawn between "The Machine Stops" and "The Tragedy of Macbeth." Macbeth is a high flying more solid in the Scottish army of King Duncan. His encounter with three witches kicks off his rise and fall from power. The three witches inform him of his impending rise into the Scottish throne. Instead of letting fate play itself out, Macbeth becomes eager to sit on the throne and goes on the rampage of assassinating the king along with his top lieutenants. This positions Macbeth perfectly to take over the kingship of the land, but that is all he would ever be. His over ambitions combined with a thirst for power makes him blind to his evil deeds. Eventually, he creates more enemies than he can handle who come back to seek revenge. The comparison between "The Machine Stops" and "The Tragedy of Macbeth" is that just like Macbeth, the human society in "The Machine Stops" was willing to accept fate when it best suits their interests but quick to dismiss it when it didn't favor them. They condemned the previous world for being religious, but they have replaced the God of the old world with a new God, "The Machine" because it best suits their interests.

"The Pilgrim's Progress," "The Rime of Ancient Mariner," and "Ulysses" all have a theme that is common to all of them. The theme is the importance of human connection. In "The Pilgrim's Progress" Christian is given various compatriots as he journey's to "the little wicket gate." Each compatriot replaced by another after the death of the previous one. This shows despite Christian's faith and determination; he still needed human connection. In "The Rime of Ancient Mariner" the main lesson given by the Mariner to the guest is to love other people and things. The final literary work, "Ulysses" shows a discontented man who is bored because he has nobody to establish a personal connection with. He is all alone. This theme is lacking in the dystopian society of "The Machine Stops." Highlighting the contrasts between the literary works.