There Will Come Soft Rains Analysis
English II Pre – AP
Ms. Smith
2 May 2014
Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” Analysis
Many of Ray Bradbury’s novels tend to focus around the idea that humans downfall will be due to the increased attention to technology and machines are incapable of human emotion. Unlike most short stories, “There Will Come Soft Rains” does not have any human characters. It is just an automated house. The house performs a routine, similar to a human’s. It makes pancakes, cleans itself, reads poems in the study and more. But for whom? The family that used to live in the house, and the surrounding area, has been wiped out by a nuclear blast. The house does not realize and continues as if nothing is wrong. As the story draws to a close, a tree limb breaks through a window, beginning a chain reaction and starts a fire inside the house. The house desperately tries to save itself, but fails. Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” presents many themes, including that human values are becoming lost, arguing that people cannot control their outcome; however, the greatest truth presented is that nature will live on without humans and humanity. Throughout the short story, the idea that human values are becoming lost is prominent. Human feelings, such as sorrow and joy, are only possessed by humans. At the beginning, the only surviving member of the family, the dog, walks into the house extremely sick with radiation poisoning. The dog has tracked in mud and the robotic mice that clean the house are not happy about it. Behind the dog “whirred angry mice, angry at having to pick up mud, angry at the inconvenience” (Bradbury 2). Instead of feeling sympathy and compassion for the dog, the robotic mice are “annoyed” at the mess he’s made. Say a human were in the house, they would find treatment for the dog or at least feel sympathy for the dog’s situation. However since the mice are robotic, they are incapable of feeling these emotions. They are simply “angry”
Ms. Smith
2 May 2014
Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” Analysis
Many of Ray Bradbury’s novels tend to focus around the idea that humans downfall will be due to the increased attention to technology and machines are incapable of human emotion. Unlike most short stories, “There Will Come Soft Rains” does not have any human characters. It is just an automated house. The house performs a routine, similar to a human’s. It makes pancakes, cleans itself, reads poems in the study and more. But for whom? The family that used to live in the house, and the surrounding area, has been wiped out by a nuclear blast. The house does not realize and continues as if nothing is wrong. As the story draws to a close, a tree limb breaks through a window, beginning a chain reaction and starts a fire inside the house. The house desperately tries to save itself, but fails. Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” presents many themes, including that human values are becoming lost, arguing that people cannot control their outcome; however, the greatest truth presented is that nature will live on without humans and humanity. Throughout the short story, the idea that human values are becoming lost is prominent. Human feelings, such as sorrow and joy, are only possessed by humans. At the beginning, the only surviving member of the family, the dog, walks into the house extremely sick with radiation poisoning. The dog has tracked in mud and the robotic mice that clean the house are not happy about it. Behind the dog “whirred angry mice, angry at having to pick up mud, angry at the inconvenience” (Bradbury 2). Instead of feeling sympathy and compassion for the dog, the robotic mice are “annoyed” at the mess he’s made. Say a human were in the house, they would find treatment for the dog or at least feel sympathy for the dog’s situation. However since the mice are robotic, they are incapable of feeling these emotions. They are simply “angry”
Cited: Bradbury, Ray. “There Will Come Soft Rains.” http://www.elizabethskadden.com/files/therewillcomesoftrainsbradbury.p df. n.p. n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. Haisty, Donna B. “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 6. Apr. 2014. Hicks, Jennifer. “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 234-6. Print. Peltier, Robert. “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Short Stories For Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 236-8. Print. Words: 1269