Ray Bradbury's There Will Come Soft Rain

Albert Einstein once said, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” During the 1950s one of the most powerful inventions, the nuclear bomb, was on everybody's mind. An author called Ray Bradbury wrote science fiction texts and he wanted to show how people could died of nuclear destruction because of that nuclear forces it has caused problems in our society. In the story, “There will come soft rains” by Ray Bradbury, there is a house that started to burn down with the city. Therefore, technology has harmed society because society thinks that their inventions can protect them but it ends up harming humanity.

In Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” the author reminds the reader how the technology advancement can be wondrous yet dangerous. He shows the world in the 2026, how it’s going to go on without the life of humans. As technology has been misused, it became the ultimate destruction of humans. People depended too much on technology and had faith to it.

Through the use of stylistic devices and character, Bradbury conveys his theme of the destructiveness of technology. He shows the reader that if technology reaches a point where it is doing daily chores and simple tasks for society, then we

Technology is a helpful tool that society has become accustomed to using. However, the overuse of technology can lead to disaster. In “The Veldt” and “There Will Come Soft Rains”, Ray Bradbury explores the power that technology holds through the use of futuristic gadgets. Both stories contain smart homes that provide everything for the humans living in the house and show the destruction caused by it. Through these technological advancements, the reader sees how mankind is being defeated by its own creation in mental and physical ways. Bradbury uses the superior technology of the smart home, the replacement of humans for the newest electronics, and the dependence of technology on humans to explain that overindulgence of these modern appliances can have drastic results.

There are many similarities between science fiction and dystopian stories and at times it can be difficult to differentiate between the two. However, the futuristic, technologically advanced setting and the lack of a dystopian protagonist or rebellion proves which side this short story falls on. Bradbury’s There Will Come Soft Rains is a work of science fiction because of the setting and the characteristics of the protagonist and plot.

In the modern world, we are increasingly categorized by our technological devices. Our cellphones, cars, and computers define our identities, rather than our bodies. We are losing the ability to amuse ourselves in the outside world. But it is our connection to nature, stripped of technology, which is essential to our individuality, not the programs we watch on television—or the appearance of our cellphones. Bradbury’s dystopian story provides a warning that is clearly not being heeded. Although we may have more technological

Through their work of literature, author form their thoughts and cautions into words, hence, the following accounts are enriched in momentous warnings. In the two short stories, “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the authors deliver their warnings about human civilization and the harm they’ll bring upon themselves. In the first account, “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains”, Bradbury, through the use of personification, emphasizes how one’s dependence on technology will bring upon one’s demolition. Moreover, in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author delivers a consequential warning of violent and harmful rituals that should be disposed of. The author successfully delivers this warning through the use of irony. In

Many centuries after the first spaceship landed on the moon, a group of brave rocket men and women did the unbelievable. The short story “All summer is a day”, by Ray Bradbury, takes place in the underground city of the planet Venus where tunnels roamed instead of streets. The land above them was submerged with endless pouring rain and deadly jungles. The sight of the sun was a rare miracle that only happened once every seven years. The children spent all their life in the enclosed underground tunnels, well all except for one. Margot was the only child who came to Venus when she was four, and the biggest difference was that she still remembered the times when the glowing sun gave warmth and hope.

“We are a detrimental virus for our mother Earth”. Clarke’s “If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth” and Carson’s “Silent Spring” explore environmental danger, each one in their own narrative style , sending a dismal but honest message: we are consuming this planet and its end is coming soon.

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

Within the modern world, and the modern thought process people have about our connection with new technologies is one of constant expanse. All caution is thrown to the wind in an attempt to satisfy one insatiable hunger for a certain type of keeping up with the Jones-es. Many authors speak on the wonder of technological advances on society by the exact means of how they work, however, Richard Louv is not this kind of author. He presents technology as useful, but with an underlying tone of a technological numbing agent. We begin to only see it instead of what Earth has given us millions of years. Technology is only a certain part of the problem with the real problem being humanity's mindset toward our greatest asset, nature. Mr. Louv uses extremely profound and intelligent rhetoric to push forward the idea that us as humans are already so broken away from nature, that eventually it will be deemed illogical we used it for anything other than a means produce by it. Richard shows three areas we have really broken apart from nature with the three examples of ad space for parks, extra commodities for an SUV, and the genetic modification of animals.

“August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” is a short story taken from the book The Martian Chronicles written by Ray Bradbury in 1950. The setting of the story takes place in Allendale, California in August of 2026, where a futuristic house is programmed to wake up the McClellan family and make them breakfast and tend to their everyday needs and wants. The house goes through a routine previously programmed for it along with any other spontaneous requirements from the family. On one of the outside side panels of the house are the charred silhouettes of the McClellan family. The house goes on with its routine even when the family is no longer present until it is ultimately destroyed by a fire. The house in way follows the steps the humans did as they both caused their own destruction. Ray Bradbury uses a reality of advanced technology, such as nuclear weapons and what effects they possibly could have, as the main contributing factor in the message he portrays in this short story. Bradbury incorporates personification, juxtaposition, imagery, diction, and irony to reinforce his message that humans crave for advanced technology and this will ultimately be the reason behind their destruction.

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

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

fueled by the legitimate examination of both ethical questions created by our eras and of the cultural and psychological standings of the age, which some authors thought Bradbury lacked (Harlow 311-314). Bradbury has endlessly defended that he is not anti-science but that his novel’s purpose is to warn about the future prophetically. Bradbury’s personality shines through as he uses romanticism as he believes that humans can reinvent themselves, making the Earth a better and carving a place for themselves in history. Yet, his writing has a sense of realism as well, connecting the unavoidable war on Earth as a harsh reality check. Realist portions include the destruction of the landscape, crystal cities destroyed by the bullets of war, the plainness