Ray Bradbury: Short Stories Lesson Plan

Travis is furious with Eckels for stepping off the path, but it was an accident. Were you surprised that Travis kills Eckels in the end? What motivates Travis? Why do you think Ray Bradbury had Travis kill Eckels?

We see that Travis can be a bully earlier in the story, when he makes Eckels retrieve the bullets from the Tyrannosaurus. “You didn’t have to make him do that,” says his partner. When they return to the present, the men find out that Deutscher has won the election. Deutscher is a strong man—a man with guts. Travis, who despises the cowardly and weak Eckels, may feel emboldened enough by this new political atmosphere to commit murder. Ray Bradbury is showing how...