In the article “The Machine Stops”, E.M. Forster presents a science-fictional world that relies on an enormous machine. People live in their rooms with everything provided. They have no need to go out. All the rooms are the same over the world. People keep in touch with each other through the machine. They don’t interact with others face to face anymore. Each human being is isolated. The civilization in this world is a system that “bringing things to people”, rather than “bringing people to things”.
There are two characters in this article. They are the mother Vashti and the son Kuno. Vashti is very adapted to this world and enjoys her life in the machine. I found that she is extremely indifferent with everything, even with herself. When her son asks her to see him, she thinks it’s a waste of time to travel. When she is in the air-ship, all the views outside the window are “no ideas” to her. When her friend is granted Euthanasia, she doesn’t mind. She even asks for Euthanasia herself after an unsuccessful lecture. Also, she always emphasizes on “civilization”. She has superstition on the Machine. She spontaneously gives up her gifts as a human, like the ability to observe, think, and love, but choose to rely on the Machine. I can see no humanity in this character. I think E.M. Forster means to show the alienation of people under the influence of the Machine through Vashti, but I don’t think E.M. Forster is criticizing these people. I feel that he sympathizes on them through the sentence “ever since her birth she had been surrounded by the steady hum”. How could we blame them if they’ve never experience silence? They are born and raised in that inhumane way. They are pathetic people, but not bad people.
Kuno, on the opposite, represents those who still have humanity inside. He is brave and curious. He raises an important point that “man is the measure”. I believe this is what E.M Forster trying to argue.
After reading this article, I feel that “the Machine” does not only refer to the technology, but also refers to a government or any other system. The Machine is like an authority. People invent technological products to improve their lives. People support a government to lead them. The authority or the system is what the people make of it. However, people may be controlled by it little by little involuntarily. I find that it is really easy for people to adapt to an environment. Because of this, it is so important for us to keep in mind that “man is the measure”. When we are in a society or even only interacting with others, we are always adapting ourselves. In this kind of process, we should always keep our ability to think and make our own decisions. We should never lose our humanities. A civilization without humanity will eventually collapse, like the Machine in the article. People without humanities inside will hard to live on once what they rely on falls, like Vashti.
