What is your critical analysis of Roald Dahl's "The Sound Machine"?
The story "The Sound Machine" by Roald Dahl is the tale of an inventor,
Klausner, who extends the range of human hearing by creating a machine that can
translate sounds made by plants into sounds humans can hear. He realizes his
invention has succeeded when, while wearing the sound machine's apparatus, he
hears the inhuman scream of a flower being cut in his neighbor's garden. To
confirm his hypothesis, he asks Mrs. Saunders to cut another flower, and he
hears another scream as its stem is severed.
A critical analysis of the story would include a discussion of its themes, particularly obsession. Klausner becomes fixated with his invention, even to the expense of healthy relationships with Mrs. Saunders and a professional colleague (Dr. Scott). In completing your analysis, you could look for examples of how Klausner demonstrates obsession with his invention. What sorts of tests does he run...
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to experience new sounds with the sound machine? What does it say about Klausner's character that his experiments cause what he interprets as pain—yet he continues carrying them out?
When Klausner consults Dr. Scott near the end of the story, Dr. Scott is unable to hear the sounds Klausner does. Dahl thus introduces the possibility that Klausner's obsession has led him to imagine the success of his experiment. When the sound machine is destroyed, Klausner feels disappointment, of course, but also perhaps that justice has been done. His fate is ambiguous, as is the success of his invention.
What are the various themes in Roald Dahl's "The Sound Machine"?
Obsession is undoubtedly one of the main themes in this remarkable short story. Klausner's experiments with the sound machine start off as just a harmless bit of fun. But as he penetrates deeper and deeper into the secrets of nature, he becomes ever more obsessed, spending virtually all of his free time listening in to the previously hidden sounds of the natural world.
It's never explicitly spelled out, but it does seem that Klausner appears to be suffering from some kind of mental illness. The fact that he's gently led away by Dr. Scott at the end of the story would certainly seem to suggest this. At the very least, one can say that Klausner's single-minded obsession with the sound machine certainly hasn't done his mental health any favors.
A number of commentators have drawn attention to Dahl's exploration of the theme of man versus nature. The idea that nature can feel pain, that it can express suffering at man's abuse of it, is suggestive of a modern-day environmental parable on the relationship between man and the natural world. Through his experiments with the sound machine, Klausner has been able to glean a unique insight into the damage that man so often does to the world around him. For the first time, he can empathize with nature's sufferings at the hands of his fellow men.
Summarize "The Sound Machine" by Roald Dahl.
The protagonist of "The Sound Machine" is a rather eccentric man by the name of Klausner. He has an obsession with sound, and he is absolutely convinced that there are many sounds in the world that humans are unable to hear due to their high frequencies. In order to be able to hear them, Klausner invents a machine that he hopes will turn the high frequencies into audible sounds.
The first time he tries out his strange new invention, Klausner hears what appears to be a shrieking sound as his neighbor cuts roses in her garden. Every time a flower is cut he hears the same sound through his headphones. Klausner is convinced that the flowers are talking to him, expressing their suffering and pain.
The next day he tries a more ambitious experiment. He takes an ax and sinks it into a beech tree. Once again, Klausner hears a sound; this time it's a deep, sad moan. Klausner thinks he's going out of his mind, so he summons his doctor. He wants the doctor to hear the sound for himself just so he knows that he isn't hearing things. The doctor comes over and listens in on the headphones while Klausner gets ready to take another big swing at the tree. But before he can do so, a branch falls from the tree, destroying Klausner's sound machine. The doctor claims not to have heard any sounds, but accedes to Klausner's unusual request to dress the beech tree's cuts with iodine.