Jealousy In All Summer In A Day By Ray Bradbury

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In “All Summer in a Day”, Ray Bradbury presents the idea that jealousy often clouds people’s judgement and causes them to exclude their peers. William and the other students are jealous that Margot has seen the sun and as a result, they have trouble accepting their differences. When Margot is talking about the sun, the other kids get jealous. “‘It’s like a penny,’ she said once, eyes closed. ‘No, it’s not!’ the children cried. ‘It’s like a fire,’ she said, ‘in the stove.’ ‘You’re lying, you don’t remember!’ cried the children” (page 2). Seemingly, Margot is a normal girl. But having had the luxury to bask in the sun anytime she pleased for the first four years of her life, she’s anything but normal. Especially for someone living on Venus, where the sun only shines for two hours every 7 years. …show more content…

Another example of how the other students excluded Margo is when they locked her in a closet and thus didn’t allow her to see the sun. “They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they had slammed and locked the door” (page 3). Not only are they angry and envious, but they’re also immature and allow their emotion to decide their actions. The students, led by William, are excluding Margot because she has experienced something they haven’t. Once they get to experience the sun too, the kids come to realize how glorious the rays feel and what they are depriving their classmate of. “Then one of them gave a little cry. ‘Margot!’ ‘What?’ ‘She’s still in the closet where we locked her!’ ‘Margot.’ They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor” (page 4). The students obviously feel bad because they experienced the same thing as Margot and had nothing to be jealous of

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