Ray Bradbury "Mechanisms of Joy"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Many perceive science fiction as frivolous literature, consider it light reading for teenagers. However, we often forget about those science fiction writers who are the classics of this genre, its founders. They did not just transfer a banal plot to an unusual environment. The fantastic element came to their aid in order to concentrate the action, give a more powerful development to the conflict, and sometimes warn humanity against the possible consequences of the modern way of life. Edgar Burroughs, George Orwell, Ray Bradbury raised the most important universal themes in their works, talked about philosophical issues, delved into psychology. Reading their works is not only interesting, but also useful.

Biography

Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in a small town in Illinois in 1920. His father was an Englishman, his mother was Swedish. According to family legend, he is a descendant of Mary Bradbury, who was sentenced to death as a witch and burned to death in Salem in 1700.

Who knows, maybe a craving for science fictionit's in the writer's blood. In 1938, the family moved to Los Angeles, where the young Bradbury graduated from high school. Instead of college, Ray was forced to go to work (sold newspapers on the streets of the city), as the family was sorely lacking money. The author never received a higher education, but he compensated for his lack of stormy reading: the young man sat for hours in the library.

Test pen

By the way, it was thanks to a love of reading and a lack of finance that Ray Bradbury's first story was born. At the age of twelve, the boy wrote a sequel to his favorite work by Edgar Burroughs, "The Great Warrior of Mars", because he did not have the money to buy the second part of the book, but he so wanted to decide the fate of the heroes. The influence of the famous science fiction writer is also noticeable in the subsequent work of Bradbury. This is especially evident in The Martian Chronicles, although in other works, for example, in the collection "Mechanisms of Joy", there is also a connection with the predecessor Burroughs.

Writing career

At twenty years old, Ray Bradbury already knew for sure that he would be a writer. Interestingly, his first published work was a poem, although we know Bradbury as a prose writer. Over the entire period of his work, he wrote ten novels, several novellas and essays, but the story became the most successful and fruitful genre of the writer. He became the author of more than four hundred works, which were included in collections such as "Dark Carnival", "Mechanisms of Joy", "Summer Morning, Summer Night" andmany more.

Peru Bradbury owns amazing fantastic books about travel to other planets and other times, deep psychological works, fascinating and intricate detective stories. All of them are certainly worthy of the reader's attention. In this article we will talk in detail about one of Ray Bradbury's collections "Mechanisms of Joy". We will also tell you about the story of the same name that opens the book.

About the book

According to reviews, "Mechanisms of Joy" is one of the most successful collections of the writer in the style of realism. The book was first published in 1964 by the New York edition of Simon & Schuster. This is an author's collection, that is, the writer himself decided which of his stories from different years would be included in the composition. As a result, the book turned out, which includes twenty-one stories. All of them are completely different both in subject matter and in the main idea that is revealed in them; they are also heterogeneous stylistically. What made the writer combine such different works under one title "Mechanisms of Joy"?

About the title

The clue is in it. By "mechanisms of joy" Ray Bradbury means everything that can make us happy. But everyone has their own happiness: someone enjoys the contemplation of nature, it is important for someone to be listened to, others will be happy to help those in need or, conversely, receive help. Therefore, then there will be as many stories - such heartfelt and bright - as there are thesemechanisms of joy in the world.

Also, the title gives us a setting for the optimism of the story, we look forward to something good and pleasant, despite the fact that the collection contains stories with such sad names as "The Day of Death" and "That's right Ryabushinskaya died", we are waiting and hoping for a good ending. After all, Ray Bradbury cannot deceive us, because he himself is the greatest optimist who believes that life is beautiful and full of joys.

First story

The book "The Mechanism of Joy" opens with the story of the same name. It is dedicated to the ancient as the world conflict of the old and the new, the clash of fathers and children. We can say that he went after Ivan Turgenev. There are two points of view in the work: the first of conservative clergy, the other belongs to futurist innovators who seek to expand the horizons of human abilities. The reader himself decides whom he will support, on whose side he will take. Bradbury in "Mechanisms of Joy" does not directly express his author's position, does not prompt readers, although the most attentive of them, of course, will still find the writer's thoughts between the lines.

Story Characters

The heroes of the story are three holy fathers and their pastor Shelby. The first of the clergy is Father Vittorini, a good-natured Italian, a man of new views. The other two are conservative Irishmen William Bryan and Patrick Kelly. So, the characters are not only spokesmen for different ideas, points of view, but also representatives of the oppositein the spirit of mentalities: southern and northern. The pastor, on the other hand, combines the features of both, and therefore is the mediator of the parties.

Summary

Believe the reviews, Ray Bradbury's Machinery of Joy is worth reading in its entirety. For those who are already familiar with the work or want to make sure that it is really interesting, let's briefly repeat the plot of the story.

The story begins with three priests meeting for breakfast. From a small scene of their conversation, it becomes clear that Father Vittorini, Father Kelly and Father Brian do not agree on their views on life. And if the first of them behaves friendly, joking, then the latter, on the contrary, is very serious, he does not understand the carelessness of his colleague, internally resents his behavior and seeks to inspire his thoughts and feelings to Kelly's father.

Controversy erupts over the fact that the Pope has blessed spaceflight, which Brian strongly disagrees with. Vittorini, on the other hand, is trying to convince both Irish people that there is nothing wrong with space exploration: he reads the poems of William Blake, cites the encyclical of Pius the Twelfth as an example, which unbalances Father Brian. It turns out that the conflict on this ground has been going on for a long time, and the conservative priest is already ready to resign so as not to see and not hear the blasphemy being committed.

However, Kelly's father persuades his friend to postpone such a cardinal decision. Irishthe clergy decide to defeat the opponent with his own weapons and begin to study the very encyclical on space flights in order to find contradictions and arguments in their favor. On the way to the library, they meet Pastor Sheldon, he, Irish by blood, Italian by upbringing (he grew up in a warm Californian climate), does not want to take sides in the dispute, but tries to convince his two subordinates that Vittorini is not to blame for the fact that time is changing inexorably, that society is developing and requires the discovery of new horizons. The pastor advises to reconcile with the Italian father and seek in different opinions not disagreements, but, on the contrary, common ground.

Reconciliation takes place before dinner, when all four heroes sit down to drink - the Irish have their own "Irish Moss", and Vittorini with the pastor Italian wine "Lacrima Christi". At the same time, Father Vittorini admits that the cosmic encyclical written by the Pope himself does not exist, that he repents that he invented it in order to annoy opponents in a dispute. To atone for his guilt, he is ready to accept penance and be silent for a whole week, but for now he rejoices at the imminent arrival of another Italian, who was announced by the pastor, and delivers a fiery speech that all people on earth are the Lord's mechanisms of joy.

And now Father Vittorini is already drinking Irish liquor, and they, in turn, are enjoying Italian wine and asking him to turn on his "demon", that is, the TV. Together, the former irreconcilable debaters look at the launch of a space rocket. Father Brian prays, he fears the end of the world, waitingthat the Apocalypse will come now, and the last moment of his life will flare up, like the same rocket rising from the earth into uncharted outer space.

Style

From the very beginning of the story, we seem to penetrate the scene of action by invisible witnesses. Bradbury does not introduce us to the characters, does not explain the relationship between them, does not tell what happened. The author sees one of the incidents in front of him and presents it to the reader in the form in which it is at the moment. This is one of the characteristic features of the writer - he instantly plunges us into the reality he created and continues the story with his calm tone.

Also in the story "Mechanisms of Joy" Ray Bradbury uses another of his typical techniques - these are bright and unusual comparisons and metaphors that create a special playfully ironic tone of the story. So, for example, an ordinary TV suddenly turns out to be an electronic monster for him, and instead of hiding, Father Brian is immersed in prayerful contemplation. Reading the story is not only interesting, but also pleasant.

Especially follow the author's language, the construction of dialogues. Speaking of dialogues, almost all text exists in dialogue form. The conversation is the basis of the plot of the work, which is typical of Ray Bradbury. Through the speech of the characters, their positions are revealed, relationships with each other are shown. Based on the speech characteristics, the reader can judge the temperament of the character, his features, give him an assessment.

Final

Those who are already familiar with the work of Ray Bradbury (according to reviews"Mechanisms of Joy" is a collection specifically for those who have picked up the books of this author not for the first time and are accustomed to his peculiarities of style and have learned to decipher the writer's thoughts), they probably noticed that Bradbury's works often have a similar ending. It seems that we see a happy ending (everyone reconciled and together look at the flight of the rocket). But right there, the author supposedly puts an ellipsis (Father Brian still doubts, is afraid and expects the worst), that is, the ending remains open. Ray Bradbury does not give the final denouement, only hinting that a happy ending is possible.

Reviews

Reviews of "Mechanisms of Joy" by Ray Bradbury say that this collection is worth reading for those who are ready to reflect on what they read. The stories that are included in the book require attention from the reader, each of them needs to be thought about, because they all raise the most difficult problems of life as an individual, as well as broad social issues. Nevertheless, this book touched many to the core. Readers appreciated not only the content, but also the form of the stories, that is, the style side, the features of Bradbury's language.