Ray Bradbury: Short Stories

Sound of thunder

How does Travis explain the chain of cause and effect that he says would occur if a hunter accidentally killed even one mouse?

Give some examples from short story?

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Basically Travis is giving a quick lesson on the food chain. If you get rid of one species, you end up eradicating the species that feeds on it.

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"All right," Travis continued, "say we accidentally kill one mouse here. That means all the future families of this one particular mouse are destroyed, right?"

"Right"

"And all the families of the families of the families of that one mouse! With a stamp of your foot, you annihilate first one, then a dozen, then a thousand, a million, a billion possible mice!"

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"Well, what about the foxes that'll need those mice to survive? For want of ten mice, a fox dies. For want of ten foxes a lion starves. For want of a lion, all manner of insects, vultures, infinite billions of life forms are thrown into chaos and destruction. Eventually it all boils down to this: fifty-nine million years later, a caveman, one of a dozen on the entire world, goes hunting wild boar or saber-toothed tiger for food. But you, friend, have stepped on all the tigers in that region. By stepping on one single mouse. So the caveman starves."

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http://www.gradesaver.com/application-essays/medical-school/baylor-college-medical-school/q-and-a/how-does-travis-explain-the-chain-of-cause-and-effect-that-he-says-would-occur-if-a-hunter-accidentally-killed-even-one-mouse-197911 Sound of Thunder