Aleta Dellenback
10/12/06
AP English 11
H block
A Mechanical Satan
The short story “The Machine Stops” by E. M. Forster is the story about a
mechanical world run by “The Machine.” Vashti, a woman living in this Machine, trusts
it with no doubt or uncertainty. She holds “The Book,” or instructions to The Machine,
caresses it, and loves it with every inch of her body. Her son, Kuno, on the other hand,
does not trust The Machine. He longs to see the surface of the earth and throughout the
story gains wisdom and great insight about the Machine’s end. He foresees the
destruction of The Machine, yet Vashti does not believe him. When the end does come,
however, Vashti seeks his knowledge in their dying moments in the darkness. “The
Machine Stops” tells the story of “the end of days,” or apocalypse, present in three books
of the Bible.
The “Machine” and the surface of the Earth are first described in the Revelation.
When Kuno tells his story of going up to the surface of the earth, he says that the spirits
of the dead generations said to him, “You will do it yet, you are coming.” (p. 19). They
encourage him to keep going on his quest to find the surface of the Earth. Kuno explains
that when there is darkness, it is an “exception,” in other words a door to the surface of
the Earth. The voices encourage him again when he pushes the tiles away to reveal this
exception, and once more when he hears the terrible silence for the first time. In
Revelation, John “looked, and there in heaven a door stood open!” (Rev. 4:1). This is just
as Kuno found the “exception” in the tiles. John continues, speaking of the opening in
Heaven, “And the first voice…said, ‘Come up here and I will show you what must take
place after this.’” (Rev. 4:1). This voice from Heaven not only explains the voices Kuno
hears, but also his knowledge about the fate of the world at the end of the story. As Kuno
and Vashti lay dying in the darkness, Kuno assures Vashti that “Humanity has learnt its
lesson.” (p. 37). They will never start the Machine again. When John is summoned to
Heaven, he sees, among other objects and gods, four living creatures surrounding a
throne. He observes, “Each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and
inside.” (Rev. 4:1). Although this is the description of Heaven, these creatures represent
the Machine. The rooms of the Machine are “hexagonal in shape” (p. 3), just like the
creatures with six wings. The creatures are “full of eyes all around and inside,” while the
Machine controls everything that goes on inside, and can see what goes on outside.
In another section of The Book of Revelation, the Machine can be thought of as
Satan. Before the Machine was invented, there was a war on Earth called the Great
Rebellion. The surface of the Earth can be thought of as heaven, and underneath it can be
thought of as Hell. The Book of Revelation says, “And war broke out in heaven; Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon.” (Rev.12:7). The Great Rebellion represents the
“war in heaven,” and the Machine represents the dragon. In the Great Rebellion, the
human race was forced underneath the earth. The Book of Revelation says, “The dragon
and his angels…were defeated…. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient
serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan” (Rev. 12:7). The people were “thrown down”
underground into The Machine, the Devil. When Kuno visits the surface, the Mending
Apparatus, “a long white worm,” (p. 25) pulls him back underground. This worm can be
compared to the serpent who is associated with Satan. The Machine represents the Devil,
since it resides underground and the spirits of the older, wiser generations reside on the
surface.
In The Book of Daniel, Daniel describes his “Dream of the Great Beasts,” which
is in direct relation to the beast of the Machine. Daniel describes his visions of “four great
beasts” (Dan. 7:2) rising from the sea. The fourth beast, he says, “was different from all
the beasts that preceded it.” (Dan. 7:2). He explains it as having “great iron teeth” (Dan.
7:2), just as the Machine is metallic with its “wings of steel.” (p. 37). Daniel says,
describing the “Ancient One” as he takes his throne, “The court sat in judgment, and the
books were opened.” (Dan. 7:2). The people of the Machine represent the court, and they
hold The Book close to them as silence destroys them and darkness swallows them. The
people of the previous generations, the “Ancient One,” who lived on the surface of the
earth, take over and destroy the satanic underground Machine. Daniel continues, “the
beast was put to death, and its body destroyed” (Dan. 7:2). The Machine, too, was
completely destroyed. It “crashed downwards” (p. 37) and came to a dark and silent end.
The Book of Isaiah, as opposed to the Book of Revelation and Daniel, follows the
story of the Machine’s end more clearly. Vashti, when Kuno first contacts her, says, “The
surface of the earth is only dust and mud, no life remains on it” (p. 6). The Book of Isaiah
begins with a similar description of the Earth. It states, “The earth dries up and withers….
The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have…broken the everlasting
covenant.” (Isa. 24:4). The people of the Machine have broken the old, natural ways
before the invention of the Machine and now it dominates their lives and their minds. The
Book of Isaiah continues, “Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer
for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindled and few people are left”
(Isa. 24:4). The inhabitants of the Machine “suffer for their guilt,” their guilt of being
taken over by a machine and leaving the surface of the Earth. The machine is obliterated,
hardly any people are left, and “Desolation is left in the city” (Isa. 24:4). The “whole city
was broken like a honeycomb” (p. 37), just as “the earth is utterly broken, the earth is
torn asunder” (Isa. 24:4). Kuno assures Vashti that the Machine will never rise again,
while Isaiah claims the earth will “fall, and will not rise again.” (Isa. 24:4).
These three books of the Bible describe three examples of the apocalypse, which
is present in the last part of “The Machine Stops.” Each of these stories presents the
Machine as Hell or Satan, which is the force the gods are fighting against. In the Book of
Revelation, the Machine can be compared to Satan himself. In the Book of Daniel, the
terrible fourth beast represents the Machine. The Machine is doomed and broken in The
Book of Isaiah. The parallel of “The Machine Stops” with an apocalypse is evident in
these three books of the bible, as is the similarity between The Machine and Satan.