This Bradbury story is a cautionary tale about the importance of handling technology carefully. The story's theme is that if we use technology carelessly, we risk paying a heavy price.
In the story, Eckels pays a large sum of money, $10,000, to take a safari trip back to the time of the dinosaurs so that he can hunt a T-Rex. Although he is warned to stay on a specially constructed path and to not touch anything from the past, he panics when he sees the T-Rex. As a result, he runs off the path and kills a butterfly.
This seemingly insignificant act has immense consequences, as he and the others find out when they return to the present day. History has changed, and a dictatorial, brutal man has been elected to the US presidency.
Bradbury is advising us not to use powerful technologies for frivolous purposes. It was dangerous to send a group of rich people back in time so they could indulge the whim of a dinosaur hunt. Instead, we should treat technology with greater respect.
The main themes of the short story examine the relationship between the past, present, and future, and explore how a seemingly insignificant action in the past can dramatically impact the future world. In the short story, Eckels is warned numerous times to stay on the path and follow every direction in order to not alter the future during their time traveling safari. Travis explains how something as insignificant as accidentally killing an insect can upset the delicate ecosystem and dramatically impact the future in unforeseen ways. Unfortunately, Eckels is terrified at the sight of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and ends up running off the path, where he accidentally steps on a butterfly and completely changes the future. Upon their return, the group discovers that Deutscher has become president and the United States has changed for the worse. Eckels's seemingly insignificant mistake dramatically impacts the course of human history. The butterfly symbolically represents any small or insignificant aspect of the past and the dramatic results of its death emphasize the close relationship between the past, present, and future.
Travis, the safari leader, tells Eckels that he has to be very careful with what he does in the “land of the past.” He must stay on the path carved out by the Time Safari, and he must only shoot those animals allowed him by the safari leaders. He has to take care not to “kill an important animal, a small bird, an insect, a flower even” as doing this “could destroy an important link in a growing species.” Unfortunately, Eckels does not follow the instructions that Travis gives him. Immediately he sees the giant Tyrannosaurus rex, panics, and decides that he cannot shoot it. He says that it is too big to be killed with a mere riffle. His cowardice puts the whole safari at a risk. His colleagues, noticing his behavior, command him to hide in the time machine. However, he veers off the metal path and steps on a “brightly colored butterfly” as he struggles to make his way to the machine.
When the hunters get back home, in the year 2055, they discover big changes. For one, the president of the United States is the horrible Deutscher—before they left for the “land of the past,” the president had been Keith. Even the sign at the safari company has changed. To make matters worse, Eckels, in his carelessness, has carried back to the present the dead butterfly. The extent of the damage caused by Eckels’s actions cannot be estimated, though the impact on their present is immediately seen in these astonishing instances. Eckels wishes that he could be able to reverse his actions, but it is too late. His actions cost him his life. The writer uses the butterfly to contribute to the theme that all actions, big or small, have consequences. The butterfly’s death causes far-reaching changes over time—changes that cannot be reversed.
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