Essay on the setting of "there will come soft rains"

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.

the empty house, echoing”, which lets the reader know that no one is home. It soon goes on to

The first literary device used in There Will Come Soft Rains is irony. The first type of irony that Ray Bradbury uses is dramatic irony. An example used in the story is that the reader knows that the McClellan family got killed by the nuclear bomb, but the house does not. Another type of irony used is situational irony. An example used in the story is that the reader doesn’t expect the house to burn down because it was the only house that survived the nuclear bomb, and it is operating on its own so perfectly. The author used this literary device to make the story more interesting by creating the conflicts of the story.

“August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” is a story written by Ray Bradbury. The story opens in a living room of a well technologically advance house, where a clock which is voice activated yells out the time, making sure everyone gets up, and also makes breakfast, cleans, and does just about all the household things you are to do. After we read about all the things the house does, we start to notice that the house is empty, which then leads us to learn about the silhouettes on the walls of the house, which we can infer, based on our knowledge of bombs that this is from some type of nuclear bomb. As we read on we learn that the house is the only house left standing in a pile of ruins. After a while the voice in the house starts to play one of Mrs. McClellan favorite poems, which is ironic given the type of situation that the house is unaware that has taken place, the poems talks about nature and how it will still move on and not care that mankind has wiped itself out completely. After the poem, the mood of the story changes the house catches on fire and even with all of its technology it still can’t stop the fire and burns down, the only thing that remains is a wall, which holds the clock that just keeps repeating the date August 5, 2026. From reading the story I think the author plays with the idea that nature is the only thing that can go along its track without any human interactions.

This story starts off with a clock saying, “get up it’s seven o’clock.” From there on we begin to see that something is off. I wondered greatly at where the people of this home were, but soon it all came together for me. The thing is, is that there are no people. That this house is running itself in a very sad moreover melancholy way. Not wanting to give up, the house is somewhat hoping the owners come back even though greatly impossible. The owners and inhabitants of this house are dead, we infer this by the shadows on the fence in the story. Those very shadows being the result of a nuclear explosion, which, is a device made by humans, so we get to see the irony of it. Not only that but the symbol that society basically kills itself off with all the want and demand of new technology, basically it came back to bite us. Our own greed for the technology lead to the downfall of the very people who created it. Another example the author used to make us feel is that we are so arrogant that we end up hurting others. This is shown by a very skinny dog trying to bark to any remaining life source in the house but all is quiet. We may know someone's trying to converse with us but people find their social rankings much more important and choose to ignore the person trying to talk to them. This causes their spark of happiness to dim and go out.

At first glance Jhumpa Lahiri's story "When Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine" and Ray Bradbury's story "August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains" could not be more different, in style of writing, setting and character content. Lahiri's story is about a family and their friend doing the best they can to cope with the separation from their family and country; while Bradbury's story is about a house that continues to go on the way it always had to help cope with the loss of humanity. While both stories indicate needing the ability to cope, the authors both portray the belief that there is a way to lessen the pain of loss: routine.

This work, along with others make Ray Bradbury a significant and influential science fiction author. His writing style and themes developed due to personal and historical events that he experienced during his lifetime. Ray Bradbury’s childhood and early work, the events of World War II, and his focus on the destructive nature of technology influenced the character, themes, and plot of Ray Bradbury’s story “There Will Come Soft Rains.”

The city in“There Will Come Soft Rains” has been destroyed leaving a single house. Bradbury’s prediction of the end of the human world will be destroyed by a massive war with nuclear bombs. Ray Bradbury lived through World War 2, the Vietnam and Korean wars. With this lifestyle, it is not hard to believe that the world will end in warfare. Humans have not settled diplomatic problems without the mention of war in the conversation. The “Embroidery” addresses the fact that mankind have not changed their ways “Sometimes I think we don’t use our hands half enough; it’s certain we don't use our heads” (Bradbury 1), humans have not thought of ways to solve problems between countries other than complete obliteration. The other way the world could end is the lack of thought humans will evolve to have. Technology will grow in the future, along side human laziness. Everything will be handed directly to the person, and if it’s a job that needs to be done an object will be created to do it instead. “The Pedestrian” introduces the idea that books will no longer be read, long peaceful walks will become a distant memory, and that the television will become the greatest thing ever created. The houses are described as “coffins”, “people [sitting] like the dead” and neighborhoods as “graveyards”, all because people don’t read anymore (Bradbury 1,2). The lack of books creates a lack of mental freedom. People

The protagonist expresses severe discomfort with the house she lives in, a house she can’t leave. It does not take the traditional symbol as being a safe place but rather a prison

In Ray Bradbury's short story August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains setting is clearly a key aspect of the story. In Dystopian literature, humans often rely upon technology to complete everyday tasks, as shown in Ray Bradbury's Story when the house carries anything from

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

The story ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ is set in 1985. The author published the story in 1950 and wrote about what he thinks might happen in the next 30 years. In this story the author writes about a lonely house on a street that does things on its own even if there is no one living in it. Technology are getting more advance, as this was the main idea on the story shown (pg 123) “Books that that talked, beds that warmed and made themselves, fires that built themselves”. “And inside, the house was like an altar with nine thousand robot attendants, big and small”. These robot would “sing, do choirs, and servicing” . This portrays

The house is portrayed as the remaining thing left standing which continues to play its obligations, unconscious that there are no more people in the

In the story “There will come soft rains” by Ray Bradbury it is about a nuclear warfare that happened in 2026 and the main character (the house) is struggling waiting for his owners and the loneliness he have and worrying about his owners having bad thoughts in his mind.

The house cannot save the family, or humans, from the viciousness of a nuclear bomb.