What kind of a story is the sound machine?
The Sound Machine is a short, sharp and sinister story by Roald Dahl published in his collection “The Complete Short Stories” in 1949. It is about a scientist named Klausner and his obsession with sounds. The story tells us about the darker side of human nature.
What is the moral of the story the sound machine?
1 Answer. The moral of the story is that unhealthy obsession can result in drastic occurrences in a person’s life. Klausner was obsessed with his sound machine, not once was he seen in the story doing something else. His obsession with the machine kept him aloof from the actual world.
What does the sound machine in the sound machine symbolize?
The sound machine in the story symbolizes the dark side of the scientific advancements and how they rob humanity and nature of its innocence and beauty respectively. At the beginning of the story, the machine is denoted as a “child’s coffin” marking the death of humanity in a way.
What was the sound machine describe it?
He invented a sound machine. It was so designed as to pick up the sound vibrations that were too high pitched for reception by the human ear. This machine could convert them to a scale of audible tones. By turning on the machine, as if on a radio, he was able to listen to sounds which an average ear cannot listen.
How is the theme of obsession dealt with in the story sound machine?
Klausner is obsessed with sound and is obsessed with his sound machine. He spends his entire time with his sound machine. Klausner is obsessed with working on this machine and involves himself in other activities. This is clearly unhealthy and abnormal to be so focused only on one thing and not exploring anything else.
Which idea obsessed Klausner How did he experiment with it?
Klausner is obsessed with the idea of inaudible sound to that extent that his sense of sanity has overpowered his senses. He refuses to acknowledge any possibility of his theory being wrong. Thus, his friend succumbs under his hysteria and bandages the tree as he wishes.
What is the theme of appearance vs reality reflected in the story the sound machine?
Answer: Appearance versus Reality is the main theme that runs throughout the story. The protagonist of the story, Klausner is a crazy, “dreamy” and “distracted” person, who is obsessed with sounds as he himself said ” I like sound”.
What is the conclusion of the story the sound machine?
At the end of the story, when the machine gets broken by the branch, Klausner is devastated. Dr. Scott had to hold his arm while trying to take him back home. This perhaps suggests that Klausner had a breakdown at that point.
How is the theme of obsession dealt with in the story the sound machine?
Klausner was obsessed with the titular sound machine obsession that lead to people around him think that he is mad. Roald Dahl illustrates the theme of obsession by depicting Klausner’s preoccupation with the sound machine and how he becomes more and more absorbed in his work.
What happens to Mr Klausner’s invention at the end of the story?
‘ Klausner believes that he heard the voice and calls his friend, the doctor to validate his experiment. However, on his second attempt to axe the tree, Klausner hits the roots of the tree making the sixty feet long branch fall off which destroys the sound machine into pieces.
How was the protagonist of the sound machine different from the other two characters and the general public at large?
He is different from the other two characters i.e. Dr. Scott and Mrs. Saunders who take him to be a peculiar person. They both do not show any concern towards nature like the general public at large.
How does Roald Dahl depict the theme of obsession in the sound machine?
The themes of obsession and dedication are depicted in “The Sound Machine” through the actions of Klausner, who spends hours fine-tuning his hearing machine, then becomes singularly focused on listening to sounds of flowers and trees that are inaudible to the human ear, and finally insists that the doctor put iodine on …
How was the protagonist of the short story the sound machine different from other two characters?
The protagonist of the story, Klausner, was quite different from the other characters and the public at large in the story. He was an eccentric scientist who had an unhealthy obsession with his experiment. He gave all his time and energy in developing the sound machine.
How would you justify the title of the story sound machine?
(a) How would you justify the title of the story ‘The Sound Machine’? Answer : The title of the story ‘The Sound Machine’ is quite appropriate. The whole story is about the idea that we can hear even inaudible sounds with the help of a machine. Klausner, an amateur scientist is obsessed with sounds.
How is the theme of obsession dealt with in the sound machine?
What is the genre of the Sound Machine?
The Sound Machine falls under the genre of science fiction, being a story that unravels the experiments of a crazed inventor who believes that he has invented a machine that can turn high-frequency sounds to notes audible to the human hear, such that they can venture into the territory of strange sounds, so far unheard by humans.
What is the plot of the Sound Machine?
The Sound Machine plot has for its exposition a frantic inventor Klausner trying to work on his machine – a device that can make audible to humans those sounds of very high frequency that the human ear cannot ordinarily hear. The exposition ends with Klausner’s doctor Scott paying him a visit, and Klausner telling him about his invention.
What is the LitCharts study guide on the Sound Machine?
Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Roald Dahl’s The Sound Machine. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world’s best literature guides.
What does the Sound Machine claim to do?
His obsession with strange sounds forbidden to the human ear lead to his invention of a sound machine, which he claims can record sounds of high frequencies inaccessible to humans.