"The Flying Machine" Analysis

In “The Flying Machine” by Ray Bradbury, the reader is taken through a short cautionary tale of finding the simple beauty in life. As a reader, we are introduced to an emperor who finds beauty in the little things of life, and his servant who claims to have seen a flying man. When they find this man, the emperor immediately sentences him to death. But why? 

From the very beginning of this story, we know that the emperor easily finds beauty in life’s little things. When his servant comes to tell him that he has seen a miracle, the emperor believes that he is talking about many simple things, such as the air, his tea, the new day, or the sea. But. his servant insists that he has seen a real miracle of a flying man. So, they go and find this man. But, as soon as they find him, the emperor calls for an executioner to kill the man. As the executioner is preparing to kill the man, the emperor shows him an invention he made. It is a beautiful forest scene wound up by a key around the emperor's neck. He begins talking about how beautiful both of their inventions are, but how different in simplicity they are. He talks about how if the man's invention were to get into the wrong hands, even though it is beautiful, it could become a weapon. So he has the man killed and burned with his invention. But what could this story be cautioning us against? 

The message of this story is to find the joy in the little things of life. Sometimes, especially in modern times, people will get ahead of themselves, trying to invent new things to make life more beautiful. Oftentimes, they will forget the beauty of the simple things in life. In the beginning of the story, the emperor is talking about the beauty of life that is already there. From the story, “...the sun has risen and a new day is upon us. Or the sea is blue. That now is the finest of all miracles.” He is able to find beauty in just the beginning of the new day, instead of needing big inventions to find beauty. 

Towards the end of the story, when the emperor is about to have the flying man killed, he brings out one of his own inventions. This invention is a moving forest scene. From the story, ““Is it not beautiful?” said the Emperor. “If you asked me what I have done here, I could answer you well. I have made birds sing, I have made forest murmur, I have set people to walking in this woodland, enjoying the leaves and shadows and songs. That is what I have done.”” In this quote, he is talking about the simplicity of his invention compared to the man’s flying machine. He sees the beauty in both, but understands how different they are. He continues to say, “There are times…when one must lose a little beauty if one is to keep what little beauty one already has.” He understands that sometimes you can’t have complex beauty, but you have to be able to see the beauty in the little things life offers us. 

In conclusion, “The Flying Machine” is a cautionary tale about finding the simple things in life. It shows us that we must learn to not be greedy with beauty, and take what life already has to offer. Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves with beauty and want more, but this cautionary tale tries to teach us to instead focus on what simple things we already have.