An Ecocritical Examination of Ray Bradbury’s “The Fog Horn” and “Here There Be Tygers”

Abstract

Ecological concerns have been a significant theme in works of science fiction across various mediums. Juxtaposed against technological advancements and the overall progress of humanity are the horrors of ecological destruction, scarcity of resources, environmental exploitation, etc. found in novels like Dune by Frank Herbert (1965), films like Avatar (2009) and television series like Doctor Who (1963) or Star Trek (1966). Similar contrasts can be found in Ray Bradbury’s science fiction and/or speculative fiction. This paper is an ecocritical exploration of two of Bradbury’s short stories: “The Fog Horn” (1951) and “Here There Be Tygers” (1968). It will employ textual analysis and an ecocritical and ecofeminist approach to examine Bradbury’s portrayal of the relationships between humans and nature in the two short stories, and what this portrayal reveals about Bradbury’s perspective on modernity and progress. The findings show that these short stories reveal humanity as a dominating force that exploits and alienates elements of nature as they seek to take all they can from nature without considering the effect this can have on others. Ultimately, his works reveal that while nature may be threatening at times, the truly frightening and consistent forces of destruction are modernity and its anthropocentrism.