Social Commentary In There Will Come Soft Rains By Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury has written several futuristic stories which portray the advancement of society. “There Will Come Soft Rains” contains technology in the house that we only dream about. Our current homes, compared to the house in Bradbury’s story, seem bland and helpless in comparison.

There Will Come Soft Rains was published in 1950, a year in which citizens of the U.S. were frightened by the use of nuclear weapons. In this story it is juxtaposed to the fact that all of the humans in this story were destroyed by an atomic bomb. This uses another figure of speech, irony. Irony is the use of words the express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.

Ray Bradbury’s “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, both portray visions of a dystopian future. In “August 2026”, everyone has been wiped out by a nuclear disaster, while in “Harrison Bergeron”, the US government has created a society where everyone is equal. Although these stories have very different characters and plots, the central themes and settings are very similar to each other and how they are perceived by the reader. In these stories, Bradbury and Vonnegut wrote around a central theme intended so that the reader can relate to it: what may become of us in the future. As such with many short stories portraying dystopian societies, they both depict bad events such as nuclear disasters and evil dictators.

Ray Bradbury’s short story, There Will Come Soft Rains, centers around a self-automated house within a technologically advanced and possibly post apocalyptic time period. Similar to many other works of Bradbury, the story begins with little to no context and can only be described as vague. However, Bradbury employs diction, metaphors, and imagery throughout to allow readers to grasp the setting and overarching atmosphere of the story.

In the story ``There Will Come Soft Rains,'' Ray Bradbury portrays a setting forwarded to the year of 2026, where the technology and equipment is exceptionally advanced. However, disasters strike in the house, resulting in chaos and a disorganized environment. Within the writing, Bradbury utilizes figurative language and symbolism to illustrate that technology has the ability to destroy and corrupt human nature. With the use of personification, Bradbury brings life and a sense of reality to inanimate objects around the house. The readers are presented to the house, but no inhabitants are in company as it quotes ``their images burned on wood in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands flung into the air; higher up, the image of

The 1950s is when technology started its raise to power, making its way into our homes. Now a day, something new and improved comes out in the tech market. Post World War II writer, Ray Bradbury creates the worlds of “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “The Veldt”, in which he shows the idea of technology having so much power can be unsettling. In “There Will Come Soft Rains” one house remains after a nuclear holocaust, and it tries to maintain itself, but inevitably is destroyed. “The Veldt” takes place in a 1950s futuristic home, in which husband and wife, George and Lydia, try to save their children from a robotic nursery, but end up killed by it, thereby losing their kids. Not only does technology destroys the connection between parent and child in “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “The Veldt” it also destroy itself which Bradbury develops through Personification, characterization, and symbolism.

World War II has resulted in the destruction of nature, and the use of heavy artillery have caused many animals to retreat, highlighting the vulnerability of the environment. Bradbury alludes to Teasdale’s poem, There Will Come Soft Rains, which demonstrates how mankind has no footprint or influence on mother nature. The vulnerability of nature is exposed through alliteration in “feathery fire”, and also foreshadows the fire in the next scene, constantly juxtaposing the control of nature. Bradbury personifies the fire as clever, highlighting the awareness and sagacious nature of the fire. The imagery as the fire “fed upon Picassos and Matisses” represents the destruction of human creation, through a contextual reference. Bradbury personifies the fire to show that the revolutionary power of humans are no match for mother nature. Bradbury personifies “Spring herself, when she woke at dawn”, constantly displaying the importance and dominance of nature over humans. Thus, Bradbury subverts mankind and its role in protecting the environment through

Ray Bradbury’s descriptions of the way the house acts in “There Will Come Soft Rains”

Imagine if a person could actually prophesize the future. Try to imagine what the future will hold as individuals, artificial intelligence, and world peace. Ray Bradbury was a poet and writer of idealistic futuristic scenarios and horror. Although he did not want to be classified as a Science Fiction writer, he was exactly that in the eyes of his readers and critics. Ray Bradbury wrote two short stories composed of his ideals of the future: “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “All Summer in a Day. “ Both of these two short stories show a futuristic outlook on life for humans and humanity; although the concepts are expressed differently. “There Will Come Soft Rains” shows the fate of the human race and the end of humanity. Bradbury describes

This house is fully equipped with 21st century technology. Even though there are no people the house works on a specific schedule 24 hours 7 days a week. The story begins normally, alarm clock goes off and right away that’s a sign of people. What was not expected was that there is no humans beings what so ever, it was just one little house by it self, around is just rubble and debree. Since this story is written as if it was in the future, everything is automated. The house is a machine that did everything from cleaning to preparing food. Although people are not present (because of the nuclear holocaust), the house still functions. The climax of the story is when a weak tree bough crashed through the kitchen window, knocking over cleaning solvent over the stove. Instantaneously the kitchen catches fire. The house tried its best to defend itself but as we all know nature is unstoppable. This story is phenomenon; it’s very intense and has you on the edge of your seat the whole time. This story is made for the reader to visualize the actual story, as if you were actually there. All that is left is the lonely house and the wounded dog. What happens in the end really is unexpected and even sad. In Ray Bradbury’s short story “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rain”, He uses various literary devices to warn us about the dangers of technology . Bradbury uses symbols to illustrate that humans are to dependent on technology. He uses the themes of the story to

A house should be a love of labor, not something that does everything for you. Although having everything done for you is nice, there is no satisfaction in it. Doing chores and keeping a clean house is fulfilling and can help children develop responsibility.

The main theme of Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” is technology has a lot of power, but it has its limits. “There Will Come Soft Rains” shows how technology can be both helpful and destructive. In the story, Bradbury suggests that technology is destructive by writing about a radioactive glow. “The house stood alone in a city if rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing. At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles”. (328) This evidence shows some kind of nuclear warfare caused mass destruction in the city. On the other hand, Bradbury also shows how technology can be helpful. Bradbury mentions many examples of how technology has affected everyday living. The following examples were mentioned on page 328; “In the living room, the voice clock sang”, “In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and ejected from its

Having spent one’s entire childhood through war and bombings can inspire many ideas, both positive and negative. From the fear of a nuclear bomb to the proud feeling of witnessing the first American man on the moon, Ray Bradbury took his experiences during World War II and the International Space Race and transformed them into literary pieces, such as “There Will Come Soft Rains”, “The Sound of Thunder”, and “The Pedestrian”. In these short stories, Bradbury includes elements of his own life into the plot, creating a message of caution to the readers through his riveting genre of dystopia. Some topics he stresses include time, technology, and its possible threats to human interaction. Through Bradbury’s unique style, he encapsulates the major issue of the rapid development in society and how it affects people in a social aspect. As new technology and science is innovated, there are many people who debate whether or not it can have harmful side effects to mankind. Among these three short stories, Bradbury uses the stylistic techniques of diction, imagery, and figurative language to convey that as society progresses through time, people lose their sense of humanity.

Furthermore, it is no coincidence that Bradbury used the same title in his short story that Sara Teasdale did in her poem “There Will Come Soft Rains”. Teasdale’s poem is a stunning piece that just like Bradbury hints at the fact of a war. She talks about the beauty of the earth and how even without mankind the world still turns and life goes on. “Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree/If mankind perished utterly” (Teasdale 9-10). The idea of this poem is used ironically in Bradbury's short story when the house recalls "Since you express no preference, I shall select a poem at random." Quiet music rose to back the voice. "Sara Teasdale. As I recall, your favorite…” (Bradbury 3). However, both poem and short story, lead back to fact that without human civilization the world is a better place.

Essay on the setting of “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury