here's the thing, for my junior paper we were asked to pick an author from a list of great american authors. as i am sure you have guessed by now, i chose to do my eight page paper on ray bradbury. my thesis? technology results in the spiritual/emotional, mental, and social downfall of man as a theme. heres the thing, its due REALLY soon and im having some trouble finding enough characters to support mt thesis. so far i have the characters in the veldt, particularly the children, mildred for fahrenheit 451, leo auffmann from dandelion wine, and not much more. does anyone have any suggestions of some short stories to read or some additional ideas on characters that would support my thesis? PLEASE HELP!!!!

Lori, try taking a look at "A Sound of Thunder", which appears in THE GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN and describes what the technology of time travel does to history; "And the Rock Cried Out", which appears in THE VINTAGE BRADBURY and deals with the aftermath of a world war on a husband and wife and society as a whole; "The Pedestrian", which appears in THE GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN and tells the sad fate of a non-comformist who dares to take walks instead of staying home and watching TV, like everyone else in a future society; and "Punishment Without Crime", which appears in LONG AFTER MIDNIGHT and describes what happens to a man who plans to murder a robotic "double" of his wife for its cathartic effect. I sure there are many others, and pehaps someone else can provide additional examples.

I would also take a look at "The Murderer." It's about a man who gets sick of all the technology (more than we have now)and gets thrown in prison for using some kind of gun-like device to zap everyone's machines. My favorite line in that goes something like, "My whole life is one big listen."

[This message has been edited by lmskipper (edited 05-17-2003).]

Imskipper, the very story I would suggest, and the most on-target in portraying the dilemma in which so many people find themselves in society today.

Thanks, Dandelion. I find it interesting that some of the inventions portrayed in the story, or at least some variation of them, have since come true. I need to check the copyright, but it seems that as usual, Ray has been right on target in predicting the future well in advance. Everyone walks around today with their cell phone glued to their ears. I can't stand it. I don't like standing in a check-out line and hearing the bozo behind me talking at the top of his lungs to someone who is not there. I don't want to hear his weekend plans. I don't want to hear his business concerns. The story as well as the Bradbury Theater episode of it portray this perfectly. If any of you out there have never read it, I strongly recommend it.

thankyou all so much. my paper is really coming along and i think i'll be able to make deadline thanks to all your help. much appreciated!
lori.