I remember a story from my 8th grade English Reader about a man who builds a make-believe rocket ship in his front yard for his children. I thought it was by Ray Bradbury, but I could be wrong. Any help?

"The Rocket," from "The Illustrated Man."

I DIDNT KNOW IT WAS MAKE BELIEVE!!!!!!!!! ISNT IT REAL??!?!?!

Ettil, the premise of several Bradbury stories is of an illusion fabricated by one person seeming so real as to fool another. I didn't understand "Invisible Boy" at all the first time I read it, and before the movie came on had to read it again. If this story is taught at middle school level, teacher really needs to ask students what they thought was happening--should result in interesting discussion--if the movie is shown after the reading--"all will become clear." This story is another take on the old fairy tale "The Emperor's New Clothes."

The man in "The Happiness Machine" didn't quite pull off the illusion--people KNEW they were being fooled--and it just served to make them unhappy longing for the "real thing."

The man in "The Toynbee Convector" pulled it off so well people rushed to make his vision real!

Certain stories are (it seems) intentionally unclear, where you can't tell if the viewpoint character is imagining, hallucinating, or experiencing some supernatural or surreal event. I put these in the "Real or Unreal?" category. Where Bradbury is concerned, there is an awfully thin line between this, the Fantasy categories, and the non-Fantasy fiction categories!

Similar themes and plots in his stories or scenes come to mind:
The Veldt, The Happiness Machine, The Toynbee Convector, Colonel Freeleigh the Time Machine, Halloween Tree journey, Mildred's tv-walled parlor, The Rocket, All of the Illustrations on The IM, ......curious!!

Others?
And a question worth pondering, why do you think this is such a recurrent topic in RB's works??

Colonel Freeleigh is a perfect example of someone being too young to "grasp" metaphor right away. It takes Douglas an awful long time to "get" why he didn't "see" the time machine. He sure believed in the reality of the Tarot Witch!

"The Illustrated Woman" is another take on the whole "Emperor's New Clothes" thing.

Then there's simply the case of, what do you want to believe and how much do you want to believe it, as in "The Inspired Chicken" Motel/Bungalow Resort.

Dandy, I read the "retelling" by the Time Machine (Col. F) with 2 classes of freshman today. Ching Ling Soo, the mighty buffalo - "Rumble!" and the Civil War remembrance. You hit it right on the head! Not until the final tale does Douglas finally "get it!"

The boys (Charlie and John) cringe when Douglas tells the Colonel they see him as a Time Machine. They leave rather crestfallen, it seems, thinking they have insulted the old gentleman. Then, as in so many wonderful scenes from DW, the kids find they have done a good thing and have presented an elder with a warm and kind gesture. "Climb aboard anytime, boys!"

(I try to read the passages with lots of interpretive emphasis -as best as I can- and the students really seem captivated by the plot. Much needs to be explained, however, since so much allusion exists in the content. Historically, it can get lost and left unappreciated unless explained before and during the lesson.)

Today is a perfect day for dandelion growing - bright, warm 80F and a gentle breeze - here in the NE. Enjoy!



[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 04-30-2004).]

Some info on RB's other famous "time machine" - http://starseeker.com/films/soundoft.htm

August 2004.

What do you guys think about a feature length motion picture based on the Toynbee Convector? I think there's a whole lot more to that story that could be told, and could be a very interesting movie.