Old Assignment: “In the Machine, I See Everything…”

…and it all looks the same. On the surface, “The Machine Stops” (by EM Forster) seems like another typical dystopian sci-fi story, however closer inspection of the story’s history yields one important find: it’s old. This leaves me with the assumption that “The Machine Stops” in some way paved the road for its subject matter. I will admit, I have not read every single technology-related dystopian novel, nor am I well versed in the history of the entire movement, but I’ve read enough to realize particular patterns.

 

 

**Note: this post contains mild spoilers for The Giver, Brave New World, and the Uglies Series.**

 

 

The first thing I picked up on was the characters’ lack of original thought. It quickly became obvious that the majority of the people in the world of the Machine were not accustomed to coming up with their own ideas, and even when they did their ideas were either of little substance or rehashings of the ideas of other people. I imagine this lack of originality is a direct consequence of the Machine. When there are buttons that do everything, there is no real need to do anything.

 

 

Immediately, I made the connection between this story and Scott Westerfield’s Uglies series. The people in Westerfield’s novels also lived in a world so technologically advanced that there was very little a computer could not do. Westerfield’s novels, like Forster’s story, refer to a previous version of human civilization in which is apparently less advanced than the current one, so much so that that version of society is obsolete, its members extinct. The difference between these two stories lies in how the humans use the technology. Forster’s short story prompted me to think about technology in new ways. Whereas the people in Westerfield’s novels for the most part used technology to bring themselves to things, the people in Forster’s narrative used technology to bring things to them. This relationship between humans and technology never occurred to me before. 

 

 

While describing the human relationship with technology, Forster chooses adjectives that suggest a vast emptiness. He actually repeatedly uses the words “nothing” and “empty.” He emphasizes the idea that while the people are seeing their friends and the rest of the world through the machine, they are are actually very much alone in their rooms. He never explicitly states that each citizen lives alone, but it is implied through Vashti’s lifestyle and the repeated assertion that face-to-face interaction is rare and touching is absolutely barbaric (“[the attendant] behaved barbarically… People never touched one another,” page 8). I concluded that the nothingness/emptiness doesn’t particularly bother the humans because they have the machine, and because everyone has approximately the same surroundings, technology and lifestyle.

 

 

The idea of sameness is another frequent theme within the dystopian science-fiction genre. The Giver (Lois Lowry), The Uglies Series, and Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) all deal with the idea of sameness. In the Lowry novel, citizens look more or less the same, they all see in black and white and they all follow the same steps into adulthood. The only variances lie in their particular occupations when they grow older, but these differences are inconsequential (unless on is assigned the occupation of “The Receiver,” like Jonas).

 

 

The Westerfield novels depict a socially accepted plastic surgery that makes everyone “pretty.” Before having the surgery, one is referred to as “ugly.” The surgery is designed to keep everyone young and pretty, while suppressing original thought (more on that later). In Brave New World people are  manufactured in a laboratory. The lower a person’s rank in society, the more copies of them their are. The sameness in these novels suggests that eliminating variance is the most effective way to rid society of trouble and dissent. After all, if everyone is identical (or nearly identical), what would be the point in coveting another’s belongings and life?

 

 

Until the end of the story, religion in “The Machine Stops” was faint but present. Religious rituals were alluded to through Vashti’s habit of crying “O Machine!” and kissing “the book.” In Brave New World there is a similar pattern of humans worshiping technology. The religion in Huxley’s world is called “Fordism,” so named because Henry Ford invented the assembly belt, which, according to the novel, is the beginning of technology as we know it (I also couldn’t help but notice the sheer number of products- people included- in Brave New World that were produced on an assembly line).

 

 

The inclusion of religion in these two works confirms a hunch I had a few years back: society cannot exist without some form of religion. People are constantly searching for something to give meaning to their lives; they want something to turn to when things go wrong. Vashti’s actions when the Machine begins to stop further strengthen my point. She fervently performs her rituals (chanting, kissing the book and pushing buttons) as if her belief alone would spare her. It is important to note, however, that every person in Brave New World and in “The Machine Stops” follows the same religion. There would be too much dissent if people followed different religions. It is also important to note that both religions are tied to the technologies that lie at society’s foundation.  This forges an powerful bond between, humans, religion and technology. Just as the humans cannot live without religion, they cannot live without technology.

 

 

As mentioned earlier, original thought is not common in Forster’s fictional world. Towards the end, around the same time the Machine starts propagating religion, original thoughts are more publicly rebuked. Original thought is the beginning of disunity, so it’s best to curtail the flow of such thoughts. Both Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Westerfield’s novels address this topic. In Westerfield’s novels, only the members of the government and the members of the rebellion are aware of the true purpose of the “pretty surgery.” Being pretty and happy are incentives to undergo the procedure, however the happiness is created through what is essentially an implanted tumor on the brain. The tumor rests on the areas of the brain responsible for creativity and unpleasant emotion.

 

 

In Bradbury’s novel, original and dissenting ideas are eliminated through near-ritual book burning, while the masses are kept happy by technology that takes care of all their needs. Technology essentially distracts the population from the larger problem. All of these stories paint humans as gullible, adaptable creatures (with the exception of a few main characters who can see through the charade) that don’t question what’s going on as long as they are pacified by their televisions and computers. In a way, there is a similar pattern forming in society today. News is more accessible than ever with the invention of the internet and smartphones that can run news apps, but people tend not to be as informed because there are “more important” matters to attend to, such as achieving a high score on Angry Birds.

 

 

I’ve spent the majority of this analysis talking about the similarities between EM Forster’s story and novels of the same genre, but that isn’t to say “The Machine Stops” doesn’t  have anything new to add to the conversation. On the contrary, “The Machine Stops” brings forth two new insights. The first concerns a new point of view in the human-technology interaction and the second concerns the result of the fall of technology.

 

 

In dystopian novels, the audience usually only gets to see the thoughts of the dissenter. Those who acquiesce to “the system” are obviously present in the stories, but they do not have much dimension beyond the face that believes “the system” is best for society. In EM Forster’s narrative, the audience sees the Machine from the perspective of an ardent believer in its powers. We see Vashti’s disgust towards her son’s dissenting thoughts and even her failure to comprehend the idea that anything could be wrong with her beloved Machine. Had the story been told only from perspective, and excluded her son, the audience may well have converted to a believer in the Machine (until the end, that is). Speaking of the end, I have yet to read another dystopian or science-fiction novel which concludes with the nearly immediate death of every person within the novel’s world. In “The Machine Stops,” people were so dependent on the Machine that they accepted its shortcomings, and died within minutes of its ultimate failure. The humans literally could not survive without technology.

 

 

At times, modern attachment to technology feels similar to the relationship described by EM Forster, albeit less extreme. It is still possible to live without technology, but it’s becoming increasingly more difficult.  Fortunately, the progression and production of technology relies on creativity, so we’ve thus far avoided the pitfall of ceasing to come up with our own ideas. We also have yet to achieve sameness. While people are more and more able to acquire similar things, and while people are expected to have certain “baseline” technology (namely a car, a cellphone, and a computer) the variety among these products is astonishing and there are still areas of the world that are untainted by the “modern world’s” incessant coveting.

 

 

Though unrelated to the bulk of my analysis, I can’t help but take “The Machine” as a metaphor for the social side of “modern” society as well. Our world is very much a machine. We are expected to follow the scheme and complete the tasks in order. I won’t get into that right now, I’ve written about it here. The main idea is that we all must remain vigilant, lest we become so settled into our way of life that we do not notice the machine taking over.

____________________________________________________

I originally wrote this post in 2014. I was going to write a long, updated political conclusion but such rambling has no place on my blog right now. Besides, the post is long enough. Suffice it to say that reading this post concerned me. I’m frightened by just how similar current events are to the action in the short story. That said, I remember immensely enjoying the tale, and I highly recommend it. I don’t remember enough to give an exact star rating, but The Machine Stops is definitely somewhere in the 4-5 star range.

 

“The Machine Stops” is in the public domain, which means you can read it for free. I’ve chosen to link Feedbooks and the Wikipedia audiobook, but you can also find “The Machine Stops” on LibriVox (a free audiobook app). If you do choose to buy it, I’d be grateful if you use my Amazon link. It costs nothing for you and gives me a few cents towards maintaining this blog. ❤