Transcript There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

There Will Come Soft Rains
by Ray Bradbury
Analysis
Notes
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Author: Ray Bradbury
Technology
Theme
Setting
Conflict
POV
Protagonist/Antagonist
Warm Up (In your Reading Journal)
Read the following statements and choose the
one that you agree with the most. Then, write a
few sentences explaining/supporting your
choice.
• Technology will be the salvation of
humankind.
• Technology will be the destruction of
humankind.
Essential Question
• What is the theme of “There Will Come Soft
Rains”?
Technology
• What is the main element missing from the story
and why is this significant?
• There are no humans present in the story, only
traces, shadows, echoes. Bradbury explores an
ironic reflection on the strengths and weaknesses
of human nature, while warning against the limits
and dangers of technology. The same
advancements that enable the people of the
future to create this fully automated house are
also responsible for the creation of the nuclear
weapons that lead to their destruction.
Theme
• Man’s Relationship with the Machine
– People put too much faith in their technological
creations
– People have the power to create devices that can
help them and also those that can destroy them;
however, there is no evidence to suggest that
mankind enacted any measures to prevent their
destruction
Theme – Man’s Relationship to the
Machine
• Technology is a tool for humans, not something
we should “follow” or “need”
• House is preoccupied with keeping time, a human
construct; despite the absence of any humans,
the house continues to be concerned with
celebrations of time:
“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” (1).
Theme – Man vs. Machine
• Religious metaphor – “The house was an altar
with ten thousand attendants, big, small,
servicing, attending, in choirs. But the gods
had gone away, and the ritual of the religion
continued senselessly, uselessly” (2).
• What is the significance of this quote in the
story?
Theme
• Machine & Nature
– Despite the absence of humanity, natural cycles
continue in the story (weather, the sun emerges after
the rain)
– The effect of the neglected technology is still present
in nature
• “At night, the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which
could be seen for miles” (1).
• Dawn showed faintly in the east. Among the ruins, one wall
stood alone. Within the wall, a last voice said, over and over
again and again, even as the sun rose to shine upon the
heaper rubble and steam:
"Today is August 5, 2026, today is August 5, 2026, today is...“
(4)
Setting
• The setting is a unimportant US city that
lays in ruins because of humankind’s
irresponsibility with technology:
• “The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes.
This was the one house left standing” (1).
Setting cont.
• A house that runs completely independently would be
seen as a terrific accomplishment by many, but
probably Bradbury.
• Why do you think that the setting for this story is
important in thinking about the theme(s)?
Conflict
What is the primary (main) conflict of There Will Come Soft Rains?
Man (represented by technology; man’s creation) v. Nature
"Fire!" screamed a voice. The house lights flashed, water pumps shot water from the
ceilings. But the solvent spread on the linoleum, licking, eating, under the kitchen door, while
the voices took it up in chorus: "Fire, fire, fire!"
The house tried to save itself. Doors sprang tightly shut, but the windows were broken by
the heat and the wind blew and sucked upon the fire.
The house gave ground as the fire in ten billion angry sparks moved with flaming ease
from room to room and then up the stairs. While scurrying water rats squeaked from the walls,
pistoled their water, and ran for more. And the wall sprays let down showers of mechanical
rain.
But too late. Somewhere, sighing, a pump shrugged to a stop. The quenching rain ceased.
The reserve water supply which had filled baths and washed dishes for many quiet days was
gone.
The fire crackled up the stairs. It fed upon Picassos and Matisses in the upper halls, like
delicacies, baking off the oily flesh, tenderly crisping the canvases into black shavings (3).
Conflict cont.
There is a constant idea in the story that sets mankind against the natural world.
Bradbury wove this idea in his themes, setting, conflict, and other parts of
storytelling.
Are there any other types of conflict in the story? Look at the following types of
possible conflict, and inquire if they are part of the narrative?
Man v. Self
Man v. Society
Point of View (POV)
Who (or what) is telling the story?
3rd Person Limited (WHY?)
What purpose would Bradbury have to include this type of
POV? Think about the themes and the conflict.
If technology is cold and inhuman, and uncomprehending, does that
make the reader better understand what the author’s purpose is?
Protagonist/Antagonist
• Identify the protagonist (main character) and the antagonist (the force that
opposes or fights against the protagonist).
• For help, examine the themes and the
conflict. Remember, this is not an issue of
good and bad, but who or what
the story is about, and what/who
opposes them.