Machine stops.. but humanity resumes

Does ‘The Machine Stops’ have an optimistic or a pessimistic ending?

I think the ending to ‘The Machine Stops’ represents an optimistic ending. Although it’s pessimistic in the sense that most of humanity has just died, in the grand scheme of things it marks a fresh start for people to live outside the constraints of the Machine. There are just so many things about the depictions of the lifestyle within the Machine that indicates a need to massively reform society. At the current state people were living in, it would have been hard to spark any sort of change within the environment the Machine had fostered. People had grown weak and generally satisfied with their lives, so only a forced massive reform would have been able to save humanity in the long run.

The beginning of the story depicts a world where the majority of people are complacent and content, but any outside perspective can immediately identify the monotonous lifestyle the people are living. Their lives are highly regulated, all the way to where people had to apply to have children and even then still be unable to care for them. For example, the book of the Machine even states that parents' duties “cease at the moment of birth” (Forster, 56). The people don’t often leave their small rooms, and there aren’t any signs of hobbies or things people liked to do for fun. The people seem to be conditioned to stray away from any desires, as well as any intentions to try new things. Vashti still occasionally talks with her friends but is mostly absorbed within her job and work life. It is at the point where people, like Vashti, essentially worship the Machine, and that encapsulates their entire lives. 

Another issue from living in the Machine is that the people have also become so dependent on the Machine that they rarely do anything themselves. Everyone has grown weak and probably quite unhealthy too. When Kuno first tried to escape the Machine, he was too weak to climb a shaft, and even spoke of holding a pillow outstretched for a few minutes as an achievement. (Forster, 64). The Machine and technology had become such a large part of people’s lives that they no longer could do minuscule physical tasks. The best way to stray away from this lifestyle would be to destroy the Machine altogether. 

With the collapse of the Machine, human creativity had the opportunity to be restored. Despite the mass casualties, the collapse allowed for a new age of humanity, as teased by Kuno. It is never made certain whether there are actually people who have been living on Earth outside of the Machine, but I think it is definitely probable since Kuno had visited the surface firsthand. Kuno also said he has not only seen these people living outside the Machine but also had “spoken to them” and “loved them” (Forster, 77) implying that these are people who are well situated in their environment. We never learn how people ended up living with the Machine in the first place, but it seems like Earth is still habitable after adjusting to the different air.

Overall, it seems like the collapse of the Machine would allow humanity to have a fresh start, eradicating an over-the-top presence of technology, and at the same time having the knowledge in hindsight of why humanity nearly went extinct the first time. The people who allegedly survived the Machine collapse likely were the “homeless” who would have been more aware of survival instincts while living outside of the Machine. The ending is optimistic because of these new opportunities that people will have, and people would once again learn to do very natural things, like engage in physical interaction or partake in fun hobbies.