Real Machine Louis Gerstner Analysis

Real Machinery
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr, the chief executive officer of IBM, describes how “No machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love and understanding”. His words are in agreement with Ray Bradbury’s in his fictional auto-biography titled Dandelion Wine. In the story, several machines are described; there are trolleys, Green Machines (cars), Happiness Machines, lawn mowers, and busses throughout the book’s episodes. All of them turn out to be failures. However, there is one machine that works how it is supposed to, and that machine goes by the name of Colonel Freeleigh. The old man has been through alot in the past, and he is willing to share his stories to the young boys that ask him about it. Colonel Freeleigh in Ray
Bradbury’s “Dandelion Wine” further develops the theme that humans are more valuable than machinery through his role as a human time machine.
At first, all of the machines spoken of in the story are equals in the sense that they operate smoothly.
The Green Machine made its users feel a giddy sense of joy. The Happiness Machine gave its inventor’s wife a brief moment of happiness. However, the Time Machine goes above and beyond what the other machines do because of Colonel Freeleigh’s storytelling. When he tells his stories to the boys, his descriptive words captivate them and send them to the past. He is heavy on imagery, which can be shown when he describes a storm he endured with the phrase “And across that prairie as far as the eye could see this big ominous yellow-dark cloud full of black lightning, somehow sunk to Earth, fifty miles wide, fifty miles long, a mile high, and no more than an inch off the ground… The earth pounded like a mad heart, boys, a heart gone to panic. My bones shook fit to break. The earth shook:rat-a-tat rat-a-tat, Boom! Rumble.” (83). Bradbury incorporates onomatopoeias and similes in Colonel’s words to further justify his functionality. The literary devices enhance his storytelling, along with the descriptions of the scenery and the violent actions that happen within it. He uses the colors of the storm to set a dark and ominous tone. When he speaks, the sentences are lengthy to imply the immense detail within them. It’s almost as if his stories come to life, which ties in with Doug’s idea of truly being alive. Doug can learn a lesson about living and feeling alive through Colonel’s vivid recollections of his
past.
Another important thing about machines is how they make people feel. The Time Machine leaves his users feeling awed. After Colonel is done with his stories, the boys “sat for a while without moving”, and then Doug says how “He sure is… a Time Machine” (86). The elderly man “looks at the boys… now it was his voice that was full of awe” (87). He goes on to confirm that they do indeed refer to him as a Time Machine. Doug and his friends are generally high energy and talkative, so it means a lot that they are left relatively speechless after hearing all that Colonel Freeleigh shares with them. This is where Colonel’s worth as a human machine shines through. He preserves history so perfectly that it seems mechanical, while simultaneously enchanting the people around him. The past is forever stationary in his brain, and the only key to enter it is a simple request to hear a story. Not even the most complex machinery can outdo the simple magic of the human Time Machine. Dandelion Wine has all types of machines.But just like businessman Gerstner said, none of them can replace the “human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding”. None of them… but the Time Machine. Colonel Freeleigh adds to Ray Bradbury’s theme of humans being more valuable than machines tremendously, and his message is still relevant today. Perhaps the chaos in the world currently could be allayed if people turned their attention away from technology and machinery and spent time with people like Colonel. If even Louis V Gerstner, Jr can agree that humans amount to more than mechanics and he made himself rich off of computer technology, Ray Bradbury might be onto something with his Time Machine.