There Will Come Soft Rains Ray Bradbury Analysis

Close Reading of “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” is a short story taken out of the book The Martian Chronicles written by Ray Bradbury. The story is set in Allendale, California in August of 2026 where a futuristic house is programmed to wake up the McClellan family and make breakfast and tend to their needs. On the side of the house are the charred silhouettes of the family. The house goes on with its routine until it is destroyed by a fire. During the time period that Ray Bradbury wrote the short stories, World War II had just ended and The Cold War was quickly coming on the rise. Causing people to have a lingering thought that a possible nuclear war could still happen. Ray Bradbury used

This descriptive language strengthens the message Ray Bradbury is trying to make, humans crave for advanced technology will cause their destruction. In the beginning of the story the reader is not given any back story as to why there are no humans in the house, Bradbury does this on purpose to give the imagery he formulated more impact, for example “Here the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn. Here, as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick flowers, a small boy, hands flung into the air; higher up, the image of thrown ball, and opposite him a girl, hand raised to catch a ball which never came down.”. This family’s last living moment caught in a still frame is now plastered to the side of their house and the image is implanted in the readers head. Along with Bradbury’s use of imagery he additionally uses descriptive diction throughout the story. He uses diction in different ways to the houses actions to further liven the house. When it is time to clean, the word choice used gives the actions a sense of being naturalist, “Bridge tables sprouted from patio walls. Playing cards fluttered onto pads in a shower of pips”. As the tables “sprouted” and the playing cards “fluttered” down onto the table. The diction used when describing the house are always in an optimistic tone, “The garden sprinklers whirled up in golden founts, filling the soft morning air with scatterings of brightness”

His message is that humans craving for advanced technology will ultimately be the reason behind their destruction. Through the use of personification Bradbury is able to give an alternative perspective of the threats that. Juxtaposition and diction give the readers a view of the positive and negative side of wanting to advance in technology. While the imagery is used to impact the reader and cause them to have that image stuck in their mind. The irony is seen all throughout the story and is used to show the true meaning behind the poem. In the end humans wants and needs to advance in technology caused their