First published in 1909, ‘The Machine Stops’ is a scarily prescient foresight of the world in which we live today. The majority of humans in Forster’s dystopia live underground, in individual hexagonal cell-like rooms, and are physically dissociated from each other. Yet they all interact with each other with the help of ‘The Machine’ which provides for all their bodily needs. They spend their days listening to lectures, music, and debating/discussing the latest news, opinions and ideas. Yet for all the proliferation and dissemination of words and ideas, the society, itself, is in stasis. And rapidly disintegrating. A masterly work, ‘The Machine Stops’ is a brilliant example of E.M. Forster’s deep understanding of human nature.
First published in The Oxford and Cambridge Review, November 1909. Collected in The Eternal Moment and Other Stories, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1928; also available as a Penguin Mini Modern Classic, 2011
A Personal Anthology 