In Ray Bradbury's 1953 short story "The Flying Machine,"
the Emperor is confronted with the news that someone in his kingdom has learned to fly
with bamboo and paper wings. The Emperor demands that the man be brought to
him.
When the inventor arrives, conversation ensues, and
the Emperor decides to execute the man and destroy his machine, as he does not want
progress to interfere with the peace of his world. Even as the inventor argues that the
Emperor's invention of the miniature world in a box is a wonderful invention in itself,
the Emperor cannot be dissuaded, and the man is killed.
To
the Emperor, the garden with trees and birds represents not only peace, but peace of
mind that he may avoid change in his world. Change is something he feels threatened by,
and he believes that he can control change by simply destroying the inventor and
his machine.
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