There Will Come Soft Rains Analysis

Authors Edgar Allan Poe died in 1849, Jack Finney died in 1995, and Ray Bradbury in 2012, yet they all have a few things in common, for example, they all use setting to support and develop theme and plot. One example, from Bradbury’s work, would be “There Will Come Soft Rain” published in 1950. In this short story, all human life has been removed. All that is left in this dystopian society are robot and animal life. The story goes through the day where there are no people, only a smart house with electric helpers. The theme of this story would be technology will be the death of humankind. An example, from Finney’s work, would be his short story “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket” published in 1956. This short story starts out with a man, Tom
The story takes place in a dystopian society with no people, just animals, and technology. The theme is that technology will be the death of humankind, without setting, there is no way this story could take place. In the short story, many instances of machines doing human jobs are presented, one is announcing the day's plans as it does when the mechanical voice in the kitchen states one morning “‘Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills’”(Bradbury 1). Years ago, many families would announce the day's plans in the morning to the whole family, however now families rarely do, and in the story, the family has a smart house that gives out their daily plans. Later in the story, it is nearing bedtime for the young children and the smart house begins to fill a bathtub for the kids rather than a parent filling the tub (Bradbury 3). This demonstrates that even as setting has changed, from the kitchen in the morning to the bathroom at night, it still supports the theme becuase the machanical house and helpers are still doing all the human