Background of the Story
The short story ‘There will come soft rains’ is written by an American author and screenwriter named Ray Douglas Bradbury who was famous for writing fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery fiction. He was born on 22 August 1920 in Waukegan, USA and died on 5 June 2012 in California, USA.
The short story ‘There will come soft rains’ which is also called ‘August 2026’ is science fiction with a dystopian concept. It was first published in the issue of Collier’s on 6 May 1950. It was then published in Bradbury’s ‘The Martian Chronicles’, the same year.
The story is narrated in third-person narrative. It has a ‘house’ as the main character. There are no humans living in that house. The house is scientifically operated, all its activities go on as usual even after its inhabitants are dead in an atomic explosion.
The story has an important message about the disasters advanced technology causes. It foresees the future of the world where the technology is very advanced but humans are extinct.
Historical Background
The story ‘There will come soft rains’ is written a few years after the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. It is written in effect on technological advancements and their negative impacts on the world and humanity. When the whole world was afraid of nuclear weapons, such literature was produced which explained the negative aspects of scientific inventions.
There Will Come Soft Rains Summary
The story ‘There will come soft rains’ opens with a morning routine in a computer-controlled automated house.
The automatic system of the house announces the time for its residents to wake up while the automatic stove prepares breakfast and announces the time for it. The date is repeated three times and then the time for going to school is announced but no movements or footsteps are heard. While it is raining outside, the weather box informs the residents of the weather outside. The garage door opens automatically to let the car out.
After some time, the dishes are washed automatically and the house is cleaned by robot mice.
At ten o’clock, it stops raining. The city which is ruined by an atomic explosion has only one house left in its original condition. The radioactive rays in the city can still be seen at night. The west wall of the house is also burned by it except five places where the shadows of the burnt residents of the house can be seen. These shadows were once the residents of the house.
The house is guarded by the computer-controlled system and no one can enter it without knowing the password or whose voice is not recognized by the automatic system of the house. The pet dog enters inside after the house recognizes its voice. The dog which once used to be fat has turned into a weak, bony organism. It goes from room to room but finds no one in the house except silence.
It then collapses to the ground and dies in front of the kitchen door. Its carcass is cleared by the cleaning system of the house.
It is the time for playing cards so tables are automatically set for it but there are no people in the house to play them so after some time the tables are folded back into the walls.
The next is the children’s hour in which they watch different animals in the nursery.
Next is the time for a hot-water bath and after that dinner is served automatically.
Now is the time for everyone to be in bed, a voice from behind the ceiling asks Mrs. McClellan, which poem to play but gets no reply so a random poem ‘There will come soft rains’ is played.
At ten o’clock, the house goes to sleep.
At midnight, while the wind blows, a tree falls on the kitchen window and the cleaning solvent gets spilled over the stove. There arise the flames of fire spreading through the whole house though the house’s fire-extinguisher tries to put it off.
Everything is smashed down except one wall from which arises the voice announcing the date next morning.
There Will Come Soft Rains Characters Analysis
The Computer-controlled house
The computer-controlled house is the main character in the story. This house automatically performs different works. It cooks, cleans and washes. It is the central character of the story in which no humans are left alive because its residents are dead in an atomic explosion.
The house performs all its routine works though the people once living in it are dead. The house at the end gets smashed as a result of fire.
The Dog
The dog is the pet of the McClellan family and is the only living character in the story. It appears in the story at noontime, at the doorstep in a very weak condition. It is badly affected by the radioactive rays and soon dies.
Clock
The Clock is also a character in the story. It announces time for each activity according to the routine. It is automatic and is a sign of the advancement of technology.
Robot Mice
These are the robots, which have mice like shapes, for cleaning the house. They clean up each dust particle that may enter the house.
The voice reading poetry
The automatic human voice which reads poetry at night when everyone goes to bed is also a character in the story.
The McClellan family
The McClellan family includes a mother, father, a daughter and a son. They owned the house when they were alive. The only clue that we get about this family is the west wall shadows of the house which shows us that this family is burned in an atomic explosion.
Themes in There Will Come Soft Rains
Life vs. Technology
Ray Bradbury in the story ‘There will come soft rains’ talks about a computer-operated house that performs different functions which are generally performed by human beings. The story highlights the point that technology is greatly blended in human life. It has even replaced humans in doing different activities.
The house in the story, which is an example of advanced technology, has humans like characteristics. It cooks food, wash dishes, does all the cleaning and speaks in a human voice. Even the robots for cleaning have animals like shapes. The automatic house performs all the daily chores which are normally done by humans.
The Dangers of Nuclear Warfare
The Story ‘There will come soft rains’ talks about the dangers and destruction caused by nuclear wars. The story talks about a house that is empty of its residents and the people who were once living are burned by the radioactive rays. This shows how disastrous nuclear weapons are and how badly it affects the human race and the whole world. The story points out that if the nuclear wars were carried on in the same way, they will cause the human race to become extinct.
The Power of Technology
The short story has pointed out the theme of ‘the power of technology’. It shows how technology can be helpful as well as destructive.
Technology is helpful in the way that the house which is computer-operated and carries out all its activities though its residents are dead. This means the automated system of the house was once help for its residents when they were alive.
On the other side lies the negative aspect of technology, advanced technology replaces man in various ways. The work which once needed a man to be completed, it can easily be done by different machines. The purpose and importance of human existence is questioned!
Technology is also disastrous in a way that new nuclear weapons are invented which are used in nuclear wars and they ruin the world’s peace and countless innocent people die.
Omnipotence of Death
The story also marks the theme of death. No matter how much advanced humans become and do great inventions but they cannot fight death. The inhabitants of the house who were once living had an automatic system for everything. They had everything under control and they could have anything they wanted. Machines would perform their chores but they were not strong enough to fight death. It means technological advancements cannot help humans escape death.
There Will Come Soft Rains Literary Analysis
The short story ‘There will come soft rains’ is set in August 2026 in Allendale California. Its title is taken from the poem written by Sara Teasdale.
The story has the central idea of technological and nuclear advancements which causes disasters rather than serving human beings.
This story is written about five years after the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 when the fear of nuclear wars was prevailing. People were afraid of being replaced by robots and technological advancements seemed a threat to human existence.
Ray Bradbury wrote this story highlighting the advantages as well as disadvantages of advanced technology. It is clearly shown in the story that scientific inventions and advanced technology is of great help but it also causes disasters that cannot be neglected.
The story is about an automated house that does everything for its residents. All the routine chores are done automatically though the residents are not alive and the house does not realize that they are dead. It carries on with its daily routine. This automatic house shows the positive aspect of technology that it serves humans but as the story progresses, we get the clue that the inhabitants of the house are dead. They are burned in an atomic explosion. This is where the main point lies that advanced technology harms us more than it can do any good for us.
The story is given the title ‘There will come soft rains’ which is derived from the poem ‘there will come soft rains’ written by Sara Teasdale. The poem has a theme related to the short story though it was written some years before the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it talks about the time when all the humans will be dead as a result of war but no element of nature would be affected by their absence rather nature will thrive when humans are gone.
The same point is raised in the short story and a connection is made between nature and technology and it is said that they do not need humans for their existence. Though the whole city is destroyed as a result of nuclear bomb and radioactive rays, the only house which is left in the city keeps doing its daily activities without realizing that there is no human around. This is ironic here, though it says nature will thrive in the absence of humans, the dog which is also a creature in the natural system turns so weak and dies at the end.
Setting of the Story
It is the time and place in which the plot of the story is set.
The setting of the story ‘There will come soft rains’ is a house in Allendale, California, August 2026. The city is destroyed by an atomic explosion and there is no human or house except the one in which the story is set. The setting is significant in foreseeing the future of the world and mankind if the nuclear weapons kept developing with the same pace so a time will come when cities will be ruined and there will be no human alive.
Conflict
A Conflict is an opposition that the main character faces in the story. It may be internal or external.
The conflict in the story ‘There will come soft rains’ is external.
External conflict
The external conflict in the story is man vs nature. The house cannot protect itself from the destructive forces of nature despite having advanced technological features.
Here the house portrays the advanced technology produced by men but still, it cannot fight natural forces.
Tone
The tone of the short story ‘There will come soft rains’ is a serious one which foresees the future of the technologically advancing world.
Symbolism
The house and the robot mice
The automated house represents humans, the robot mice and other technological things in the house represents humans’ use of machines and technology. It symbolizes our lives being driven by technology.
Fire
Fire in the story ‘There will come soft rains’ is a symbol having two aspects. Both aspects of fire appear in the story.
The fire which burns in the hearth is a symbol of warmth and comfort but the other aspect is when the house catches fire, it destroys and burns everything which symbolizes those passions that go out of control.
Verbal Irony
Verbal irony is the type of irony in which the writer says something else but he means something else.
The example of verbal irony in the story is that it is stated in the poem ‘There will come soft rains’ that nature will thrive when humans are dead but nature is also destroyed by the war. The dog which is also a creature in the natural system has turned so weak and dies at the end.
Simile
The example of a simile in the story ‘There will come soft rains’ is when the author describes the furnace where the carcass of the dog is burnt. It says that “It was dropped into the sighing vent of an incinerator which sat like evil Baal in a dark corner.”
Imagery
It is the author’s use of descriptive language which makes an image in the mind of the reader.
Example of imagery in the story ‘There will come soft rains’ is when the author describes the dog’s condition before it dies. He states that “the dog frothed at the mouth lying at the door sniffing its eyes turned to fire”. A reader can easily create the image of the weak dog having foams flowing from his mouth.
Allusion
It is an expression used by the author to call something to the mind of the reader without explicitly referring to it.
One example of allusion in the story ‘There will come soft rains’ is when the writer alludes to the poem ‘There will come soft rains’ written by Sara Teasdale.
Another example is when the author describes the furnace. It states that “It was dropped into the sighing vent of the incinerator which sat like evil Baal in a dark corner”. Here ‘Baal’ alludes to the evil king in hell.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a word or phrase applied to an object or a person to which it is not literally applicable.
One example of metaphor in the story ‘There will come soft rains’ is when the narrator talks about the uneaten food which is then washed away. It states that “hot water whirled them down a metal throat which digested and flushed them away”. Here the sink drain pipes are compared with a metal throat, using metaphor because there are no humans alive to eat the food that the automatic system has prepared. So the food is swallowed by the metal throat of the house. The use of this metaphor is significant in explaining the impact of advanced technology that has replaced humans.
Another example is when the narrator talks about how the house is guarded. It states that “it had shut up its windows and drawn shades in an old-maidenly preoccupation with self-protection which bordered on a mechanical paranoia”.
Here the house is compared to an old unmarried paranoid woman, using metaphor.
Personification
The example of personification in the story ‘There will come soft rains’ is when the author describes the robot mice. It states that “Behind it whirred angry mice, upset at needing to get mud, upset at hassle”. Robot mice were just machines but the author has given them the human quality of being angry.