Ray Bradbury's The Flying Machine as a Cautionary Tale

     Some Literary theorists through the ages have spoken of the ability of stories to be both delightful and profitable. Bradbury's short stories are rich with truth and told in a delightful manner.  Reading them aloud presents the ears with pleasure.  Bradbury is a first rate wordsmith and master of metaphor.  His short story, The Flying Machine is both delightful and instructive. 
      Certainly the story can be read in large part as a reflection of the human spirit exploring and seeking freedom.  However, it would be a shame to miss the common Bradbury warning about the other side of the coin of innovation.  Bradbury recognizes that with new technologies and inventions, something is lost. This is very clear in Dandelion Wine and Fahrenheit 451.  
     Read this story as both a celebration of human innovation and as a cautionary tale of human innovation.  Here are some questions for reflection on a few key quotes, "....the people in his dominion were neither too happy nor too sad."  Is this saying that they were, "just right" or that mediocrity had set in among the people?  What is the reader to make of Emperor Yuan's fear?  Some people mistakenly see him as a brutal dictator, but he is described as being fearful more than once.  If the story is anti-technolgy, what does one do with the miniature mechanical garden?  How does one interpret the ending of the story in light of the entire story?