Mr. Travis Character Analysis

A safari guide employed by Time Safari, Inc., Mr. Travis leads the expedition on which Mr. Eckels sets out. Travis has a keen sense of the danger of their trip, but he is primarily concerned with protecting the bottom line. He stresses how much Time Safari, Inc. pays the government in order to stay in business and warns the hunters that they must avoid straying from the path at all costs. He also scolds Eckels for handling his gun improperly. Yet despite his apparent concern for rules, Mr. Travis also appears volatile and impatient. For instance, he responds with anger when Eckels does not keep total silence during the dinosaur’s approach. And after the hunt concludes, Travis becomes enraged when he realizes that Eckels has strayed from the path. He laments the huge government fine to be paid and suggests leaving Eckels behind, although that would only compound the damage to the past. Lesperance talks him down from this extreme punishment, but Travis still forces Eckels to retrieve the bullets from the dead animal’s corpse. After returning to the present, Travis tells Eckels to leave and never return. When Eckels draws attention to his mistake of stepping on a butterfly, however, Travis responds with deadly force. Impervious to Eckels’ pleas, he aims his rifle at the man’s head and concludes the story with another sound of thunder.