An Analysis of "The Machine Stops"

Although the title of this post is “An Analysis of ‘The Machine Stops’”, I do not intend to analyze the entire story; rather, I will be analyzing the sentence, with those exact words, that is present in the story. Although it may seem strange to write about a sentence that is also the title of the story, this sentence is surprisingly important to the story, causing a complete shift in its tone. For context, this story takes place in the distant future in which there is a mass of people living underground that follow the rule of the “Machine”, a little-known yet omnipotent force that seems to control everything. This may be one of the most perfect examples out there of a dystopian story; although it is quite hyper-exaggerated, it was relevant for its time, in which machines were relatively new and feared by many. However, one thing that is uncommon in most dystopian stories but present in “The Machine Stops” is a drastic change in overall tone as a result of one short sentence.

From the beginning of the story, the Machine is introduced as a seemingly supernatural force. Already, the irony of some of the themes of this story is relevant: despite the fact that it was created entirely by humans, the Machine now transcends humanity. What is even more ironic about this story’s setting is that despite the fact that the people of this time period are obsessed with “ideas” and value intelligence over all other qualities, they blindly worship the Machine, which contradicts these values. Because the Machine is seemingly an immortal force that can never be stopped, the sentence “The Machine stops” indicates that something terribly wrong has happened - which is in fact true, as in the end of the story, the Machine-worshippers are wiped out due to not being able to adapt to life on the surface. One could say that they may have survived if they had different “ideas”.

The way the sentence “The Machine Stops” is said further adds to its significance. Kuno, whom the quote can be attributed to, could have said the sentences “The Machine has stopped” or “The Machine will stop”, which both have the same meaning. However, “The Machine stops” emphasizes that the event is occurring right now; not in the past or the future, but in the moment. When Vashti first hears her son say this, she laughs it off, denying any possibility that the almighty Machine could possibly have stopped. She figures that it must be something wrong with the music, and files a complaint for the problem to be fixed. However, as time passes and the “defects” continue to grow in number, remaining unfixed, it becomes clear that something is wrong. For a population obsessed with “ideas”, nobody seems to be making any semblance of effort to solve the growing number of problems; rather, everyone simply adapts to them. The meaning of Kuno’s remark finally sinks in with Vashti when the worldwide communication system collapses, and she realizes that the followers of the Machine are all going to die - not in the future, but right now.

When any being is viewed as a god by a number of people as massive as the worshippers of the Machine, it is nearly impossible to believe that said being could somehow die, or in the case of the Machine, stop. For this reason, when Kuno proclaims so assuredly that “the Machine stops”, it changes the tone of the entire story, which has thus far been depicting the Machine as a higher power. It is because of this that one moral of this short story is to never be too confident in an idea, as at any moment, drastic changes can occur.