“There Will Come Soft Rains” Summary
(Updated Essay)
“There Will Come Soft Rains” Summary
There's no doubt of the pessimistic message of “There Will Come Soft Rains”, a story by Ray Bradbury and part of the “The Martian Chronicles”. Yet there is also a message of hope here, if not for our human kind at least for our planet. Nature has been damaged by humankind, and our Ecosystem is in danger as we all know it, but we keep inventing and investing in new gadgets and weapons with disregard of the huge damage we are causing to our planet. I’m sure Albert Einstein was not so thrilled with what we did with his inventions. However, this story let us fantasize that no matter how badly we hurt our environment, Mother Nature will supersede anything, even technology. “Bradbury shows how human technology is able to withstand the demise of its maker, yet is ultimately destroyed by nature, a force which prevails over all others.” http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-softrains/intro.html
There Will Come Soft Rains Study Guide. Retrieved 10/12/2009.
(No publication date provided)
So even if human kind is destroyed by our scientific ambitions, as in “There Will Come Soft Rains”, nature will stand up from its ashes and fight back_ hopefully there will be some trace of humanity left. The house in this story continued functioning like a computer under pre-programmed functions and orders, telling the time and date, announcing the time to go to school, work, and tidy up, much like a servant way long after "the man" was no longer in existence. This by itself exalts the importance of human kind and the simple things we usually ignore or take for granted, like being on time and organized, having a healthy breakfast, and enjoying a song, or a poem, etc.These little things are truly important for a “normal” and traditional way of living.
The story also presents the idea of a lost humanity, regardless the human shapes on the outside burnt wall, and it also replicates all the things we like to have around us, like a nice meadow, the fresh air coming through the windows, and even the snow. The house is burned up, a fire caused by a tree bug. This is not only a symbolism, a David vs. Goliath force, but a concrete message of the force of nature winning over science and technology.
Bradbury’s story clearly tells us “out with the old” in this story. Ironically the old here is the burnt house with its technological system. I see it like a new beginning, like a farmer who burns down the dried-up sugar canes to replace them for new seeds and get better crops, or like the gardener who eliminates the weeds so the flowers and seeds could grow.
The message I percieve from this story is a message of hope and conscientization. We all need to get back in touch with nature and not rely so much in science and technology, which in the long run could in fact destroy our race, human kind, as it did in “There Will Come Soft Rain”.
I fathom this amazing story to be an invitation from Bradbury to all of us, humans, to be aware and beware of our obsession with technology and science and the dangers of it.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” Summary
There's no doubt of the pessimistic message of “There Will Come Soft Rains”, a story by Ray Bradbury and part of the “The Martian Chronicles”. Yet there is also a message of hope here, if not for our human kind at least for our planet. Nature has been damaged by humankind, and our Ecosystem is in danger as we all know it, but we keep inventing and investing in new gadgets and weapons with disregard of the huge damage we are causing to our planet. I’m sure Albert Einstein was not so thrilled with what we did with his inventions. However, this story let us fantasize that no matter how badly we hurt our environment, Mother Nature will supersede anything, even technology. “Bradbury shows how human technology is able to withstand the demise of its maker, yet is ultimately destroyed by nature, a force which prevails over all others.” http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-softrains/intro.html
There Will Come Soft Rains Study Guide. Retrieved 10/12/2009.
(No publication date provided)
So even if human kind is destroyed by our scientific ambitions, as in “There Will Come Soft Rains”, nature will stand up from its ashes and fight back_ hopefully there will be some trace of humanity left. The house in this story continued functioning like a computer under pre-programmed functions and orders, telling the time and date, announcing the time to go to school, work, and tidy up, much like a servant way long after "the man" was no longer in existence. This by itself exalts the importance of human kind and the simple things we usually ignore or take for granted, like being on time and organized, having a healthy breakfast, and enjoying a song, or a poem, etc.These little things are truly important for a “normal” and traditional way of living.
The story also presents the idea of a lost humanity, regardless the human shapes on the outside burnt wall, and it also replicates all the things we like to have around us, like a nice meadow, the fresh air coming through the windows, and even the snow. The house is burned up, a fire caused by a tree bug. This is not only a symbolism, a David vs. Goliath force, but a concrete message of the force of nature winning over science and technology.
Bradbury’s story clearly tells us “out with the old” in this story. Ironically the old here is the burnt house with its technological system. I see it like a new beginning, like a farmer who burns down the dried-up sugar canes to replace them for new seeds and get better crops, or like the gardener who eliminates the weeds so the flowers and seeds could grow.
The message I percieve from this story is a message of hope and conscientization. We all need to get back in touch with nature and not rely so much in science and technology, which in the long run could in fact destroy our race, human kind, as it did in “There Will Come Soft Rain”.
I fathom this amazing story to be an invitation from Bradbury to all of us, humans, to be aware and beware of our obsession with technology and science and the dangers of it.
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