Ray Bradbury is best known for his writing in the fantasy genre and "A Sound of Thunder" exemplifies that writing style. "A Sound of Thunder" is a short story that although only a few pages long incorporates two different settings. Events from within the story are also strongly influenced by the setting of Bradbury's life during the writing of this piece in the early 1950s. As the characters of the story travel through time and change settings the moral of the story becomes ever more apparent to the reader as well as the characters themselves. This moral is brought about or antagonized by the setting rather than specific characters who normally play the role as antagonist. The setting is what develops the characters, creates tension, produces a moral, and leaves the story with a resolution that is meaningful.
The two settings that appear in the short story are the time travel company, Time Safari Inc., and the jungle. The five main characters are Eckels, Travis, Lesperance, Keith, and Deutscher as well as two other side characters Billings and Kramer. The hunters and guides, all characters except for Deutscher and Keith, start in the time travel company where the year is 2055. This year is significant because it is during an election year where Keith, the favorite candidate among the hunters, and Deutscher run against each other. Keith wins the election which is the last scene before the hunters are traveling through time. When the hunters arrive in the prehistoric jungle Eckels starts to feel uneasy. This is where the tension starts to build due to the surroundings. Travis and Lesperance warn the hunters not to step off the floating time machine pad and eventually the T-rex that Eckles wanted to hunt appears. As one would imagine the beast overwhelms Eckels causing him to flee without thought off the pad. This is where the environment is antagonizing the protagonist. This ends up being the simple choice that turns fatal for Eckels.