Vol. 15 (2021): XV International Symposium Contemporary Issues of Literary Studies : Literature and Pandemic. Historical and Thematic Experience
Plenary Session

„The Machine Stops“ by Edward Morgan Forster: The Dystopian World of Total Isolation

Merab Ghaghanidze
University of Georgia

Published 2021-12-20

Keywords

  • Dystopy,
  • Isolation

Abstract

 

„The Machine Stops“, a dystopian short story by Edward Morgan Forster, describes a picture of the future when the people are not allowed to appear on the surface of the Earth and are forced to spend their lives in the isolated rooms under the ground where they are provided with food, light and distant connection. The writer made the pandemic and the situation following it a metaphor, which turned out to be a very impressive foretelling, particularly in terms of the present-day experience.