What is the Meaning of "The Machine Stops"?
E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" depicts a post-apocalyptic underground society that worships and lives under the rule and care of what they refer to as "the Machine". Under the rule of said machine, everyone loses their values and they begin to lack critical thinking as its no longer necessary to them. My question is, "What is the meaning of 'The Machine Stops'?". Upon finishing my first reading of the short story, I only thought it was a critique of society's overreliance on technology. However, upon further inspection I have come up with another possible meaning to the story.
It could be argued that "The Machine Stops" aims to critique some of the freaky cult and "behavior modification" schools that were far more popular at the time of the story's conception. It's possible the futuristic society portrayed by Forster is meant to show what would happen if these abusive child correction facilities became common practice. For example, just like in most of these terrible facilities, there are many odd rules in "The Machine Stops" that seem outlandish to us. In the story, physical contact with other people is frowned upon and discouraged, and people are described as "almost exactly alike". (Forster, 59) This is comparable to the rules and punishment children sent to these facilities would be given in that if someone stepped out of line or tried to interact with a peer too much, their overseers would often shame them and possibly command the victim's peers to do the same. They would do this until they became completely compliant like the majority of people in "The Machine Stops."
Another possible way "The Machine Stops" could be critiquing these terrible schools is through the odd hierarchical system seen in the story. Forster's story gives us a glimpse at a society where people who are more supportive of the machine are held above others, similar to how the children who were more compliant with the incredibly strict and unnecessary rules implemented by the abusive overseers of the school were given better treatment. These students were often older than the rest, so the school overseers did this in hopes that the newer students would see them as role models and follow in their footsteps without the younger students realizing it was just another way for the school to twist their beliefs against them. Those who challenged the morality of the school were punished and viewed as outcasts, similar to the way Kuno was treated when he questioned if there was more to life than living under the machine's rule.
Admittedly, the idea that "The Machine Stops" is connected in any way to these terrible places is a bit far fetched, but that's the fun with finding meaning in stories like these. For all we know, "First Person Shooter" was just the author's way of coping with his terrible zombie fetishes and he never meant for anyone to look into its deeper meaning. "The Fall of the House of the Usher" could just be Edgar Allan Poe's way of sneakily jabbing at his girlfriend's family who he possibly didn't like very much. We simply don't know. So next time you read short story, I encourage you to try and be as dumb as me. Try and find the most unlikely connections and themes imaginable and make them the focus of your reading.
This is a really interesting connection, and although I don't really have any background knowledge about these schools, it doesn't seem too far-fetched to me at all. However, I do have one challenge for this viewpoint. Assuming Forster *was* thinking about these types of institutions, I wonder what he would say about the intentions behind the creation of this "cult-like," homogenous behavior. I assume that these behavior modification schools were meant to produce a generation of people that would be easily kept in line to maintain the peace. However, the conformist culture in The Machine Stops seems largely accidental--as in, there's no person or government that starts out enforcing conformist behavior. Rather, it gradually becomes the norm as people become increasingly dependent on The Machine.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting take, and I see where you are coming from. While I do see the common critique of technology theme, I see yours as well. I do not know much about these schools, but all of what you said reminds me of a common underlying theme of conformity. I think nowadays with things such as mass production, uniforms, and capitalism, there can be a lot of push to be like everyone else or to be a good worker in society. Although I am not sure of my final takeaway from this short story, I am sure there are many different messages within this story and I am glad that your blog has given me another one to think about.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! This is definitely not a connection that I considered, even though my post was also about The Machine Stops, so I am interested in your take on the story. Although I don't really know anything about these schools, I can see why you made this connection, as both can be seen as a type of cult in which the more devout followers have more influence. In addition, I think that this cult-like behavior was not just found in schools during the time period in which Forster lived, but throughout all of society, as there were many strict social norms that people were expected to follow back then. Overall, this post caused me to reconsider my evaluation of this story.
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