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The Machine Stops

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1909 E.M. Forster science fiction short story

For the album by Hawkwind, see The Machine Stops (album).

"The Machine Stops"Short story by E. M. ForsterCountryEnglandLanguageEnglishGenreScience fiction short storyPublicationPublished inThe Oxford and Cambridge ReviewPublisherArchibald ConstableMedia typePrint (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback)Publication dateNovember 1909<br>E.M. Forster, circa 1917<br>"The Machine Stops " is a science fiction short story by E. M. Forster. After initial publication in The Oxford and Cambridge Review (November 1909), the story was republished in Forster's The Eternal Moment and Other Stories in 1928. After being voted one of the best novellas up to 1965, it was included that same year in the popular anthology Modern Short Stories.[1] In 1973 it was also included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two.

The story, set in a world where humanity lives underground and relies on a giant machine to provide its needs, predicted technologies and cultural impacts similar to instant messaging, social media, and the Internet.

Background<br>[edit]

In the preface to his Collected Short Stories (1947), Forster wrote that "The Machine Stops" was intended as a rebuttal to one of the "earlier heavens" of H. G. Wells";[2] specifically his quasi-novel, A Modern Utopia, published in 1905.[3][4] In contrast to Wells's political commentary, Forster points to the technology itself as the ultimate controlling force.

Plot summary<br>[edit]

The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth due to extreme climate changes and toxic air. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard room, with all survival, comfort and entertainment needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Travel to the surface is permitted but is unpopular and rarely necessary. Communication is made via a kind of instant messaging/video conferencing machine with which people conduct their only activity: the sharing of ideas and what passes for knowledge.

The two main characters, Vashti and her son Kuno, live on opposite sides of the world. Vashti is content with her life, which, like most inhabitants of the world, she spends producing and endlessly discussing second-hand 'ideas'. She enjoys talking to friends but uses her work to defend herself against their invitations to be more social, remaining in her ‘room’ where all her basic needs are met. Her son Kuno, however, is passionate, free spirited and a rebel.

Kuno persuades a reluctant Vashti to endure the long, uncomfortable journey (and the resultant unwelcome personal interaction) to his room. He tells her of his disenchantment with the sanitised mechanical world and how this has led to his current troubles.<br>He confides to her that he ordered a respirator and strengthened his body enough to explore and found a way to visit the surface of the Earth without permission. There, he saw other humans living outside the world of the Machine.

However mechanical agents of the Machine soon recaptured him and he is now threatened with 'Homelessness': expulsion from the underground environment and all supportive infrastructure, which is expected to result in death. Despite the toxicity of the surface air, Kuno longs to return and sees the controlling underground world as a kind of hell. Vashti listens to her son's story but considers the implications of his rebellion to be unthinkable, akin to dangerous madness. She dismisses his perspective and returns to her part of the world.

As time passes, and Vashti continues the routine of her daily life, there are two important developments. Following Kuno’s escape, individuals are no longer permitted use of the respirators which are needed to visit the Earth's surface. Most welcome this development, as they are sceptical and fearful of first-hand experience and of those who desire it. Secondly, "Mechanism", a kind of religion, is established in which the Machine is the object of worship. People forget that humans created the Machine and treat it as a mystical entity whose needs supersede their own.

Those who do not accept the deity of the Machine are viewed as 'unmechanical' and threatened with Homelessness. The Mending Apparatus—the system charged with repairing defects that appear in the Machine proper—has also failed by this time, but concerns about this are dismissed in the context of the supposed omnipotence of the Machine itself.

During this time, Kuno is transferred to a room near Vashti's. He comes to believe that the Machine is breaking down and tells her cryptically "The Machine stops." Vashti continues with her life, but...