The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster

E.M. Forster’s The Machine Stops is an extraordinary short story that was decades ahead of its time. Written in 1909, the author paints a picture of a far future human society. Humanity has retreated underground. People spend almost one hundred percent of their time isolated in their personal rooms. A worldwide mechanical contrivance, known as “The Machine,” runs everything.

The society is dystopian. Real human connection and interaction, critical thought and connection to nature are non-existent. People are beginning to worship The Machine like a deity. Transgressions against the system are punished by death.

Vashti is a woman who happily abides by society’s dictates. Her son Kuno is a rebel who challenges the system. Among other things, he secretly and illegally visits Earth’s surface.

This tale is so prophetic that it bears noting just how accurately Forster predicted certain aspects of our digital age. What contact there is with other people is accomplished through a system that is amazingly like today’s Internet. This system relies heavily upon video conferences and applications that resemble email and instant messaging. People spend much of their day chatting with one another using these mechanisms.

At one point, the Vashti goes through a process that seems very similar to logging into a computer and checking messages, which seems to be reflective of our present day social media accounts,

"all the accumulations of the last three minutes burst upon her. The room was filled with the noise of bells, and speaking-tubes. What was the new food like? Could she recommend it? Has she had any ideas lately? Might one tell her one"s own ideas? Would she make an engagement to visit the public nurseries at an early date? - say this day month.

To most of these questions she replied with irritation - a growing quality in that accelerated age. She said that the new food was horrible. That she could not visit the public nurseries through press of engagements. That she had no ideas of her own but had just been told one-that four stars and three in the middle were like a man: she doubted there was much in it. Then she switched off her correspondents”

It bears repeating that this story this was written in 1909.

Several themes permeate the story, including the dangers of technology, loss of the ability to think critically, loss of humanity’s connection with nature and Forster’s seemingly universal concern with the issue of human connections. I have read Forster’s Howards End, A Room with a View (my commentary  on this work is here ) and A Passage to India (my commentary  on this work is here). These three novels all concern themselves with people bridging the gap between intellectual, social and cultural differences. Forster is a champion of people of differing groups reaching out to one another.  At the same time, all of these books emphasize how difficult such connections can be and how they can even endanger individuals.

Thus, it is no surprise that Forster delves into this concept within his science fiction tale. At one point, Vashti becomes infuriated when another woman, in an attempt to help her avoid a fall, touches her. 

“People never touched one another. The custom had become obsolete, owing to the Machine.”

One would expect a nightmare world created by Forster in such a place where even this simple human shared experience is forbidden.

I highly recommend this story. As I alluded to earlier, in terms of technology, Forster was uncanny in his prediction of the future here.  In addition, though his theme of human connections is a common one, he approaches it within this tale in a unique and interesting way. Finally, this is just an interesting story that is well worth reading.

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

This post contains major spoilers.

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster is the story of Lucy Honeychurch. Like other works that I have read from Forster, this is a story about people striving for and struggling to make human connections. Having previously read both a Passage to India and Howards End, I found a lot of parallels in this book.

Lucy is full of life and beginning to appreciate the diversity inherent in the world and in people. The novel opens in Florence, Italy, where she and her friend Charlotte Bartlett are visiting as tourists. There she encounters a host of other English travelers and expatriates.  Among them are Mr. Emerson and his son George Emerson. The older of the men is intelligent, dynamic and empathetic, but in the terminology of our present day, he would be called verbally unfiltered. He speaks what is on his mind to the consternation of the book’s more conservative characters.  Thus, he is often a driver of major and minor events. George is moody and depressed but is also philosophical.

Eventually Lucy and George become attracted to one another. Though she will not admit it to herself, the pair falls in love. Socially, it seems that the two would make an unacceptable couple due to the Emersons’ odd nature. Thus, Lucy flees Florence in an attempt to get away from George.

Later in the narrative, Lucy returns home to England. Lucy becomes engaged to Cecil Vyse, a man who is cultured and who is a lover of art and literature. Unfortunately, Cecil is also priggish and stifling to Lucy. When George moves into the same neighborhood that Lucy lives in, complications ensue.

Like Forster’s A Passage to India, but to a much lesser degree, this novel contains several transcendental moments for the characters. These moments revolve around the common theme of understanding a certain meaningless to life and an ensuing leap to find meaning. However, unlike A Passage to India, which contained in depth metaphysical musings, this work only touched upon such higher intellectualizing. My commentary on that novel is here. My opinion in regards to A Room with a View is that it presents a lot of ideas that were present in Howards End as well as in A Passage to India, but that they are less developed here. I remember that those books contained more sophisticated musings relating to several themes, including Forster’s favorite, the value and difficulty in striving for human connections.

Like I often do, I would like to devote a few words to a particularly interesting and insightful, but fairly minor, point in the narrative.

After a talk with George, Lucy comes to understand that Cecil is boorish, cold and a terrible match for her. She decides to break off the engagement.

As is illustrated in Howards End, as well as in a Passage to India, however, Forster is all about people with differences attempting to connect and coexist. It turns out that Cecil is more thoughtful than is initially apparent. At being informed by Lucy that she is breaking off the engagement, he responds,

"…I fell to pieces the very first day we were engaged. I behaved like a cad... You are even greater than I thought." …"I'm not going to worry you. You are far too good to me. I shall never forget your insight; and, dear, I only blame you for this: you might have warned me in the early stages, before you felt you wouldn't marry me, and so have given me a chance to improve. I have never known you till this evening. I have just used you as a peg for my silly notions of what a woman should be. But this evening you are a different person: new thoughts— even a new voice—"

Nothing like this came from Cecil earlier in text. However, it is apparent that Lucy never voiced criticism of his behavior before. It seems that Forster is illustrating the tragedy of missed opportunity here. It is not at all clear that Cecil would be capable of change, and even if he were, Lucy is in love with George. However, I think that Forster is leaving open the possibility that he might have gained by constructive criticism. The author never depicts connections as easy, and folks attempting to connect and understand what is different often run into all kinds of trouble, as is illustrated in this failed relationship. All of this adds so much complexity and nuance to this work.

This is a very worthwhile book. The themes, of which I have only scratched the surface of above, are intriguing. Several of the characters, including Lucy and the Emersons, are well crafted, complex and interesting. The story is compelling. Though perhaps a little less far along in terms of developed themes than Forster’s later novels. This is an entertaining and very compelling book.