Modern Times and The Machine Stops

The description of Pixars 2008 animated movie WALL-E is: In the distant future, a
small waste collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately
decide the fate of mankind. In many ways this adorable childrens movie is like Forsters
story The Machine Stops. But instead of a small waste collecting robot, it is a young man
named Kuno, and instead of a space journey, it is a journey to the surface of the Earth.
Although, this paper isnt about WALL-E, or just about The Machine Stops, but it is also
about Charlie Chaplins 1936 film, Modern Times. Both Forsters story, The Machine
Stops and Chaplins film, Modern Times are a reflection on the direction our world is
heading. They show us how, through our efforts to make our lives as humans easier, we are
inadvertently destroying our beliefs, our bodies, and ultimately our humanity.
In The Machine Stops the machine has taken away creativity. All that matters
anymore is what is already known, that second hand ideas are better than first hand (185).
These mountains give me no ideas, Vashti says on page 176 regarding the Himalayas. One
of the most beautiful, natural things on Earth even today and they give her no ideas? The
machine has basically taken away her ability to look at nature as a beautiful thing, or even
her ability to respect it. Yet, Forster has shown a sliver of hope when he describes the
attendant. When reading the interaction between her and Vashti you get the sense that she
does appreciate the Himalayas, and when she closes the shades as Vashti instructs her to do,
she repeats something that they were saying earlier in their conversation, We have indeed
advanced, thanks to the Machine. In a sense it is a kind of lexicon, she says this sentence
that is meant to be praising the Machine, but it gives a sense that she isnt praising it and in
fact thinks it is a bad thing in some way.

Creativity isnt the only thing being overrun by the Machine in Forsters story, but
also religion. From the very beginning of the story, you get the idea that the people have
started to look at the machine that they live in as more than just a machine. Vashti is the first
to reveal that religion is no longer around in their future on page 178. But the very fact that
Machine is capitalized is the first clue that it is becoming a religion in itself. The next
indication is when they describe the manual of the machine, and they refer to it as the
Book, again capitalized, like it is the Bible or the Koran. To make the Book seem even
more as a religious one, Forster has made it leather bound just as one would find the Bible.
Possibly the biggest of all the evidence that they are creating a religion around the machine
is that on page 172, Vashti kisses the book and says O Machine! as though she is praying
to it.
Yet religion isnt the only thing the machine is taking over, the main character also
makes a comment about how [The civilization] had used it [the lift] for bringing people to
things, instead of for bringing things to people. When I read this the first thing I thought
was how lazy the human race has become, although it is quite common for people to think
of things like this even today. But the fact that Vashti was scoffing at the idea, is what really
akes me sick. This part of the story also is what made me really think of Pixars WALL-E.
Once I made this connection I realized just how similar the movie is to the story, so much so
I would go as far as saying the movie is a loose interpretation of the story. I have realized
that the machines have taken away the humans health, just as they did in the movie. Forster
then describes Vashti as a swaddled lump of flesh (169) and apparently have no muscle
tone. The fact that they have no muscles is evident when on the bottom of page 174, the guy
near Vashti drops his Book and he is so weak and lazy he cant even bend down to pick it

up. Their weakness is also shown when Kuno mentions that he decided to exercise, and to
do so he would hold a pillow outstretched (179). A pillow, something that my one year old
niece can hold and walk around with. Yet the most compelling evidence, in my opinion is on
page 178, Each infant was examined at birth, and all who promised undue strength were
destroyed. They literally killed those infants who seem to posses strength. In the story they
say it is for the childs own sake, but in reality it is a way for the Machine to keep control
over the people.
Then when Chaplins film starts, it shows a large herd of sheep walking toward the
camera, and a few seconds later that same herd changes into a large group of men piling out
of a subway and walking to the factory to work. This is Chaplin using zooification to show
that these men are no longer really men, just another animal to do the bosss work. Forster
also uses this in The Machine Stops when he is describing the rooms the people live in as
being shaped like a bees cell. Forster also does this in the same paragraph when he
describes the main character, Vashti as a swaddled lump of flesh, (169). The first thing
that came to mind when I read this was a slug, how it is a fleshy, roundish creature, which
creature is exactly what Vashti calls a fellow human (174). In Modern Times, Chaplin
magnifies the animalistic qualities of men when the boss has Chaplins character try a new
machine that is meant to feed him while he works to try and make him more productive.
When watching this it almost makes him look like a dairy cow, one that stands in one spot to
be fed and milked at the same time. Although as in any good Chaplin film, he is subjugated
to a horrific experience with the machine for him, but an entertaining scene for the viewer.
Humans being depicted as animalistic really add to the themes of these two stories.
By doing this it makes it seem to be more practical to replace them with machines, which is

the common theme between the two, that machines make our world easier, even though now
we are taking it too far. At the beginning of Charlie Chaplins film it states that it is A story
of industry, of individual enterprise humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness. In this
simple sentence Chaplin is saying that in a world full of industry, man cannot simply fight
for his happiness, but that he now has to combat with the fast growing industry. This is
evident throughout the movie and how unemployment is very high, most likely due to the
fact that the machines are taking away many peoples job because they can do it more
efficiently than, and faster than the humans. Chaplin masterfully turned this problem into a
comedy by being overly clumsy, making it almost too easy for the boss to choose a machine
over a human being. Forster, on the other hand, not only had machines replacing
monotonous general labor tasks, but he took it to the level of replacing intricately skilled
procedures, like the work of a doctor (173).
It isnt just their jobs and/or careers that the machines are taking over for the
humans, but also as a parent in many ways, like when Kuno was removed as a baby (17374). It is also revealed on page 179, when it describes how Kuno wanted to be a father but
was rejected by the Committee. Having a child is no longer, a man and woman coming
together, but instead they have to apply for it. Taking Kuno away from Vashti and forcing
the people to apply to be a parent arent the only ways the Machine has taken away human
relationship though. In their form of communication, which is much like that of Skype
today, humans facial emotions are not conveyed. In the story it is worded as the Machine
did not transmit nuances of expression [] an idea, that was good enough for all practical
purposes, (171), the people dont think seeing a persons features and emotions are
practical. Talk to any psychologist today about the importance of facial emotions and they

will all say the same thing, it is essential in creating a real relationship with anyone. It is
how we can figure out an underlying meaning to someones words, how we can tell if they
are being sarcastic or serious or indifferent. By not having this essential component of
communication, we cannot effectively understand the person we are speaking to. The
Machine has also taken away peoples physical interactions, and even if they do come in
contact it is considered barbaric, [The attendant] put out her hand to steady her. How dare
you! exclaimed the passenger. [] People never touched one another, (176). The woman
the attendant was trying to help would have rather fallen, possibly hurting herself and not be
able to get up, than be touched.
In Chaplins film, because his character has worked so hard and for so long doing the
same grueling task over and over again, he has developed a tick. Even when he has stopped
working for lunch he continues to twitch like he is still performing the task. This twitching
continues and he ends up trying to tighten all the screws he sees, which include coworkers noses, the bosss secretarys buttons, a fire hydrant, and buttons on another ladies
dress. This tick makes him seem almost robotic, and to show it off how much he is
becoming part of them machine he is literally pulled inside and is shown moving through
the wheels on the interior part of the machine. To bring this idea of the workers being a part
of the machine, Chaplins character takes an oil can and starts spraying his co-workers with
oil. Even when Chaplins character is sent to jail at the blow of a whistle all the men come
out of their cells and stand in line, at the second blow they all turn and walk off to lunch, and
the same when it is time to go back to their cells like they are acting like machines.
Modern Times and The Machine Stops are both showing us what our world is
coming to. In some ways these things are good, making our world easier, but in others they

are not. In no world should we as human beings worship a man made machine, or lose our
ability to look out into the world and see the beauty in it. We as humans should not chose to
let our bodies become useless blobs of flesh, to only be good for our second hand
knowledge. But most importantly we should not lose our sense of self and become nothing
more than another gadget to make the world go round. Let us be the people at the end of
WALL-E who chose to go back and help fix our world for the better of us.