preview

Analysis Of August 2026 : There Will Come Soft Rains

Decent Essays
Open Document
Bradbury wrote the short story “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” in 1950, a few short years after World War II had ceased. In the beginning of the story, the author paints a picture of a once lived in home, that is now occupied by robotic mice and a voice-clock. * The story begins at seven o’clock in Allendale, California on August 4th, 2026. The voice-clock informs the abandoned house that it is time to wake up, and start the day with breakfast. An automated kitchen begins to prepare food, specifically eight pieces of toast, eight eggs, sixteen slices of bacon, two cups of coffee and two glasses of milk. Through this breakfast menu the audience can assume 4 people lived in the house, specifically two adults and two children, based on the beverage orders. At ten o’clock the sun comes out, and the reader is told that the house “stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing” (Bradbury). The reference to the rubble and ash combined with the statement of the house standing alone in a city that emits a radioactive “glow” is starting point out the fate of mankind.

This story describes the city of Allendale, California to the audience as a glowing, radioactive wasteland with a singular home that sits alone among the ruins after massive nuclear warfare. At ten-fifteen the story moves into the backyard to describe the houses exterior, explaining that the entire side of the house is black, except for silhouettes: One of a man mowing the lawn,
Get Access
Related
Get Access