Comparison Essay: The Machine Stops and All Summer in a Day

As stories, The Machine Stops and All Summer in a Day have very different perspectives and settings, but they both share a similar theme of being judged by others and experiencing new things. 

Perspective and point of view play an important role in how a reader interprets the text, and how characters and certain events are seen by the reader. The Machine Stops has a third-person limited point of view, meaning the reader can only see the perspective of the main character Vashti. In the story, Vashti is blunt with her son, as in paragraph nine: “Be quick!” she called, her irritation returning. “Be quick, Kuno; here I am in the dark wasting my time.” As the reader, we know why Vashti disagrees with Kuno, but we don’t know Kuno’s morals and beliefs. The reader is led to believe that he is in the wrong until his side of the story is heard while talking to his mother. In All Summer in a Day, the reader sees the perspective of all the characters. We know why Margot is depressed, and we also know why the other children dislike her. If the text was written from Margot’s perspective, important details may have been left out because of her age. The story has much more of an emotional impact on the readers because it is written in third-person omniscient .

Both stories can be inferred to take place in the future, particularly The Machine Stops which takes place on Earth. The land and ocean are described as “brown and horrible” by Vashti in paragraph 31. Vashti believes that The Machine is the only important thing in her life, therefore Earth serves no purpose to her. Most characters in The Machine Stops are repulsed by even seeing the Earth, unlike those in All Summer in a Day who see the beauty in their planet after seeing the sun. The children laugh and feel “resilient and alive” when they see the sun come out. (paragraph 60) This illustrates the innocence of the children versus Vashti’s solemnity. 

The Machine Stops and All Summer in a Day both share similar themes of judgment and isolation, as well as experiencing something that hasn’t been experienced before. In The Machine Stops, Vashti judges her son Kuno for wanting to visit the surface of the Earth, similar to how the children judge Margot in All Summer in a Day.Vashti is content with her life in the Machine, whilst Kuno longs for something more. In contrast, In All Summer in a Day, Margot has already experienced seeing the sun. However, she misses her home planet Earth, and seeing the sun would make her feel less homesick. Margot and Kuno feel distraught with the world around them and wish for something more--or the way things used to be.