Q & A: "The Machine Stops"

Q:

        Given the fact that some of Forster’s predictions have begun to materialize in our modern world, what is the likelihood of the hypothetical future depicted in “The Machine Stops” and should readers be afraid of the possibility of that future?

A:

     “The Machine Stops,” by E. M. Forster, focuses on the daily life of Vashti and her virtual interactions with others, including her son Kuno. We are introduced to the possibility of an isolated future–one in which each person resides in a hexagonal room with an assortment of buttons and switches to provide anything they could ever want or imagine. After having destroyed much of the natural world centuries ago (via pollution and an overreliance on technology) no one has any desire to leave or reconnect with the world outside the convenience of their protected bubble. Kuno, the one exception to this seemingly universal mindset, disobeys the rules by venturing to the surface of the earth without a respirator and embracing what all others apparently fear: direct experience. Humanity has become lazy, but more importantly it has dissolved into a meaningless existence. Forster’s intention in writing “The Machine Stops” was to show readers a future that could arise from allowing technology to destroy our environment and take over our lives. While I don’t think the totality of the situation portrayed in “The Machine Stops” is realistic, the story still conveys some important, and increasingly relevant messages. 

In regards to the story’s mention of a decimated earth’s surface, it’s easy to see the parallel to our modern life. A growing focus has been placed on the damage we inflict upon the environment every day through a myriad of detriments ranging from plastic polluting the ocean to carbon emissions to problems with the ozone layer. Some of these issues seem like far-off problems for the next generation to deal with, but we are already dealing with the repercussions of our actions such as increased natural disasters. When taking these problems into consideration, Forster’s vision of a ruined earth begins to seem much more plausible. Indeed, there are many scientists calling for numerous sustainability-related reforms before we waste all of our natural resources. I don’t think climate change alone could ever decimate the earth to the extent Forster describes, but I do think climate change has already and will continue to have a significant impact on our lives caused by our ever-increasing technology.

While some aspects of the story, such as the characters’ lack of protesting about their situation or the elaborate underground constructs seem far-fetched, I think the entire story is meant to be interpreted as a hyperbole. Forster’s overarching theme is that we must not let technology continue to advance to the point that it controls us, instead of the other way around, That theme has been used many times in the sci fi/dystopian genres, and although it’s often portrayed in an extreme way, the idea still resonates with modern readers. For example, the first thing many people do upon waking each morning is to immediately check their phone, and the last thing they do before falling asleep is to interact with some type of screen. We have developed tools such as blue light blocking glasses just to combat the problems that have arisen from our reliance on technology. In my own life, I’ve become so used to having my phone with me everywhere I go, I feel uneasy if I’m ever running or going on a longer trip without it for fear of not having a way to contact others. So even though I don’t think Forster’s futuristic view of society could ever truly occur, the broader warning against becoming addicted to technology still has meaning in our society. 

Certainly, if Forster was alive today, he would be appalled by our current overuse of technology, which has already achieved and surpassed much of what he imagined in his story (music playing without instruments, video calls with people on opposite sides of the world, supersonic airplanes, etc.). However, considering the shutdown last year, when we were all confined to our rooms in an eerily similar way to what Vashti and the other citizens of the underground world experience, Forster’s depictions of the consequent actions humanity takes are flawed. Nearly everyone in real life was eager to return to a normal lifestyle and get outside more often, despite being surrounded by technology. 

In the future world shown in “The Machine Stops,” Kuno is the only human (besides the Homeless) to ever want to venture out of his room and explore the natural world. While this is not an accurate depiction of how society would react, I think it was necessary for the layout of the story to have only one rebellious character to allow for a tighter plot. To me, the most emblematic sentence revealing that this story is meant to be interpreted purely metaphorically is the final line of dialogue from Kuno when he states “Never, never. Humanity has learnt its lesson,” in response to his mother’s insistence that someone will repair the Machine by the next day after it has finally broken down completely. This statement is meant to emphasize that if society did indeed succumb to the complete and total reliance on technology shown in the story, it would take the death of an entire culture to right our wrongs. Even the description that “the whole city was broken like a honeycomb,” could be in reference to the honeycomb-shaped rooms everyone lives in, highlighting how a construct the people themselves created was what killed them in the end. The idea that we will be the cause of our own demise is a central theme to the story, a theme which is clearly communicated through both the warnings against the power of technology, and more specifically, through technology’s devastating environmental damage that  had doomed humanity to an unnatural life underground.