There Will Come Soft Rains Essay

The short story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” by Ray Bradbury, is classified as science fiction. Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which the stories often tell about science and technology in the future and this short story clearly demonstrates this. “There Will Come Soft Rains” is science fiction because several elements of a short story that includes setting, theme, and plot reveals to readers that the short story is science fiction. The setting is one element that identifies that the short story is science fiction. There are many clues in the story that help establish what the setting. According to the story, “‘Today is August 4, 2026,’ said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, ‘in the city of Allendale, California.’” This
reveals that this story takes place in the future as it is known that the house says the date is 2026 and that technology is a lot more advanced than today. Additionally, the location of the story was at a house in Allendale, California as it was given that the house says the area and the quote is focused on the house. The setting in science fiction is usually futuristic and items in the story show technological advances. This story follows this rule as the story takes place in the future and the house with its capabilities of doing actions such as talking which today it cannot. Overall, the setting does identify that the short story is science fiction. Another element that identifies that the short story is science fiction is the theme. There are many themes in the story, but one of the themes clearly illustrates that this story is science fiction. In the story, there is no sign of human life. The only thing that stands is the house. However, there are signs that there was human life. On the house remained “The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—remained. The rest was a thin charcoaled layer.” That suggests that a disastrous event such as an atomic bomb happened which killed off human life but left marks of them. This makes the reader think of a terrifying topic which is that the rapid growth of technology created by humans killed humans itself. The theme of science fiction is usually something related to technology being unacceptable or unquestionable. In this case, the theme of this story is about technology being unacceptable. All in all, the theme identifies that the story is science fiction. The final element that distinguishes that this short story is science fiction is the plot.
The plot in science fiction creates situations different from those of both the present and the past. Additionally, the plot includes a human element that explains the impact of technology on humans in the future. The plot in this short story demonstrates this as it is about a technological house in the future that is one of the last to stand. The plot explains the controversial idea of technology and its rapid growth leading to mass human death as well as the life of others. “It sniffed the air and scratched the kitchen door. Behind the door, the stove was making pancakes which filled the house with a rich baked odor and the scent of maple syrup. The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffing, its eyes turned to fire. It ran wildly in circles, biting at its tail, spun in a frenzy, and died.” The death of the dog clearly shows the emptiness that was there as the dog could not find anything to support him/her. This is one of series of events that explains the aftermath of rapid growth in technology. To summarize, the plot in the science fiction is an element that determines that this is science fiction. All things considered, it is clear that the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” by Ray Bradbury, is science fiction. This is due to several elements of a short story that includes the setting, theme, plot. Differentiating the genre that a piece of literature is in
is quite difficult, however, through using literary elements, it can be easy to do so