Ray Bradbury’s "There Will Come Soft Rains" and James Tiptree Jr.'s "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" - Probable Futures of our World
Since the beginning of time mankind has predicted the end of the universe. From early Christians to science fiction authors of the 20th century, each generation has had its own vision of how life on earth will cease to exist. In earlier times though, most apocalyptic ideas consisted of the "hand of God," or God’s figures punishing humankind for its sins and ending human existence. However, in the mid-twentieth century many more scientific ideas of the apocalypse appeared. Ray Bradbury’s "There Will Come Soft Rains," which was published in 1950, is a post-nuclear apocalyptic tale. "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain," written in 1969 by James Tiptree Jr. is a story about the world ending due to biological terrorism. Amazingly, over 30 years since the publication of the latter, these ideas are currently two of the most prevalent thoughts on how the world will come to end.
"There Will Come Soft Rains" illustrates the devastating effects of nuclear warfare. Bradbury’s use of vivid and poignant details to describe the end of world shows exactly how unforgiving nuclear weapons are. "The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes…. At night the city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles" (Bradbury 719). It is almost impossible to imagine this landscape appearing in real life; almost everything destroyed, and the buildings that are still standing left in shambles. Weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear warheads, seem to have God-like powers. They can level an entire city in one swift blow, and whoever has possession of the most of them rules the world. In an instant everything is d...
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...both be probable futures of our world. In the case of these two stories, science fiction and reality seem to almost overlap, and in a not too distant future they could become one.
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Bradbury, Raymond Douglas. "There Will Come Soft Rains." The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ed. Garyn G. Roberts. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 718-722
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Tiptree Jr., James. "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain." The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ed. Garyn G. Roberts. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 915-921
When one thinks about warfare, the average mental picture is usually a movie war scene with soldiers, and planes; very rarely do people think about about the average Joe, trimming his hedge. In the short story “Grace Period”, by Will Baker, there is a man trimming his hedge outside with an electric hedge trimmer when a nuclear bomb is dropped; his wife has gone to get the mail. In “an instant [he felt as] everything stretched just slightly, a few millimeters, then contracted again” (Baker, 1989, p. 7). Although the character does not know what is happening, the reader may realize that this description is a high altitude nuclear burst. The article “Nuclear Weapon Effects”, by John Pike, describes what a nuclear bomb’s effects are and what could happen if one was dropped. Based on clues in the story and the information from the article, the reader can determine what is happening to the man and what he can expect will happen to him.
In Ray Bradbury’s " There Will Come Soft Rains, " he fabricates a story with two themes about the end of the world. The first theme is that humans are so reliant on technology, that it leads the destruction of the world, and the second theme is that a world without humans would be peaceful, however no one would be able to enjoy it. Bradbury uses literary devices, such as narrative structure, personnification, and pathos to effectively address human extinction. One aspect which illustrates how he portrays human extinction can be identified as narrative structure, he structured the story in a way that it slowly abolishes the facade of technological improvements made by people to reveal the devastation that technology can cause. The story started
People expect a penitentiary to hold inmates, especially dangerous ones, for as long as the court determines they should serve. Kingston Penitentiary has been doing that for many years. But it has also dedicated to the reform of inmates. What that means has changed dramatically over time. (Curtis et al, 1985)
One of the first topics discussed by Jacobs is the history of the prison and prison organization. The beginning days of Stateville
In “There will come soft rains”, the author wants to reveal that because of the developing world, more and more people live depend on technology. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, there is no people appear in the story which author implies in some way that nuclear bomb killed everyone. Technology brings us high quality, efficient and comfortable living environment, however may kill us too. The author tries to suggest people to live naturally, and the world would not be “there will come soft rains”, it comes soft rains
In thi sicund cheptir uf Lest Chold uf thi Wuuds, Rocherd Luav mekis thi cleom thet thiri hevi biin thrii fruntoirs on thi cuarsi uf Amirocen hostury. Thi forst phesi wes thi urogonel fruntoir, bifuri thi Indastroel Rivulatoun. Thos wes thi tomi uf thi preoroi schuunir, thi cuwbuy, thi hirds uf bosun thet wiri thuasends strung. Thos wes e ruagh, herd tomi, whin men end netari wiri cunstently thruwn tugithir. Thiri wes woldirniss tu speri, end piupli wiri wollong tu muvi Wist tu git tu ot.
Through his uses of descriptive language Hersey exposes to the reader the physical, emotional, Psychological and structural damage caused by a nuclear attack. He shows the reader how peoples are physically changed but also how emotional psychologically scared by this act of horror. Through Hersey’s graphic detail of the horror after the bomb and the effects years after he shock the reader while also give the message that we shouldn’t let this happen again. In the book Hiroshima the author John Hersey exposes that a nuclear attack is not simply a disaster that fades away when the rubble is removed and buildings are rebuilt but an act of horror that changes the course of people’s live.
Paradowski, Robert J. “Ray Bradbury.” Critical Survey Of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-9. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
The most challenging part of this assignment was finding evidence about Epicurus’s beliefs. The least challenging part of this assignment was typing the research paper. If I had an opportunity to do this again, I would want a different philosopher to write about. I actually like the topic of this assignment because some of the philosophies that were studied in Ancient Greece is used in the modern day. This assignment relates to the real world because some of the philosophies that philosophers study now was from Ancient Greece. In my opinion, I feel like opinion is the best critical thinking skill because in any kind of situation you have to use information to back up your argument.
Many science fiction shows, films, and novels today have been influenced by science fiction novels from the past. A few examples are Frequency,The Butterfly Effect, and A Sound of Thunder relating to A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury. These films all express Bradbury’s idea of the butterfly effect and that time traveling can change the past, therefore changing the future. Although they share the same idea, they each have different outcomes.
Macnee, Marie J. “Ray Bradbury.” Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Writers. Eds. Martin H. Greenburg and Joseph D. Olander. Vol. 1. New York: Gale Research Inc., 1995. 58. Print.
While these two marvelous stories start out similarly and follow the same timeline of events...
An American resolution: The history of prisons in the United States from 1777 to 1877 by Matthew Meskell. Stanford Law Review.
Herman, Peter G., Ed. The American Prison System. n.p.: The H. W. Wilson Company, 2001. Print.