The Sound Machine - Roald Dahl

• Roald Dahl was born in Wales in 1916 of Norwegian parents. He served as a fighter in World War II and his first volume of short stories, Over to You, was based on his wartime experiences. Other collections are Kiss Kiss, Someone Like You, Switch Bitch and Further Tales of the Unexpected. They have been translated into many languages and are bestsellers all over the world. His stories, bizarre and alarming, often with a touch of black humour, are more in the fantasy and horror genres though he sometimes make use of science-fiction images. His stories for children, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, are also enormously popular. He died in 1990.

• First lines:

• It was a warm summer evening and Klausner walked quickly through the front gate and around the side of the house and into the garden at the back. He went on down the garden until he came to a wooden shed and he unlocked the door, went inside and closed the door behind him.

• Last lines:• “Thank you, doctor,” Klausner said and he

nodded his head again and he dropped the axe and all at once he smiled a wild, excited smile and quickly the doctor went over to him and gently he took him by the arm and he said, “Come on, we must go now,” and suddenly they were walking away, the two of them, walking silently, rather hurriedly across the park, over the road, back to the house.

• Most interesting lines:

• “This machine is designed to pick up sound vibrations that are too high-pitched for reception by the human ear and to convert them to a scale of audible tones.”

• Most Dahl line:

• It felt something else which we didn’t know about - something called toin or spurl or plinuckment, or anything you like.

Most ominous lines: He put the earphones on his head and switched

on the machine. He listened for a moment to the faint familiar humming sound; then he picked up the axe, took a stance with his legs wider apart and swung the axe as hard as he could at the base of the trr trunk. The blade cut deep into the wood and stuck there and at the instant of impace he heard a most extraordinary noise in the earphones. It was a new noise, unlike any he had heard before - a harsh, noteless, enormous noise, a growling, low-pitched, screaming sound, drawn out like a sob lasting for fully a minute, loudest at the moment when the axe struck, fading gradually fainter and fainter until it was gone.

THEMES

• Obsession

The theme of obsession is highlighted in the story. Klausner shows that his obsession to invent the sound machine, test it and prove that it is able to detect sounds, tones and vibrations has no limits . He is so obsessed to try out and make the machine work .

• Irrationality

The theme of irrationality is also present in the story. Klausner actions and behaviors relate to doing things without thinking logically. Klausner behaves irrationally when he gets excited and also because of his obsession. He overreacts when he is facing a particular situation.

• Creativity

Klausner invents a sound machine based on his own creativity. He has a very imaginative mind, and is also very observant. Klausner is able to be very creative because of his obsession too .

• Being Judgmental

Judgments are made based on Klausner’s physical appearance, his behaviors, emotions, reactions and perceptions of the world. Mrs. Saunders thinks Klausner is peculiar and has become crazy. She is afraid of him. Similarly, the doctor also forms judgments about Klausner and thinks that Klausner is silly and even to the extent of being crazy.

• Nature

Klausner tells his neighbour not to snip any more stems of the flower. This show that he loves nature as shown through his thoughts on what would happen to plants, vegetation and trees when they are cut .