The Last Night Of The World Analysis

What would you do if it was your last night on Earth? This is a question I have heard countless times throughout my life. This question is common from children all the way up to adults and everyone between. So, what would you do if it was your last night on Earth? I’m going to show you an in depth look at Ray Bradbury’s, “The Last Night of The World”. We will also look at society’s view on courage versus how Bradbury portrays it in the short story.
In Ray Bradbury’s “The Last Night of The World” the attitudes of the people are quite different throughout the entire story. The story begins with a husband asking a wife what she would do if she knew it was the last night of the world? After a few lines of going back and forth the husband tells

Yet, this is what is said about them “The girls were laughing in the parlor as they waved their hands and tumbled down their house of blocks”. I feel as though the children were depicted the way were, was to show the innocence of a child. Here this couple was on the last night of the world and they didn’t tell their children about the end of time. I interpreted this as the couple is old enough and mature enough to know exactly what they want, they know how to live life with courage and bravery. Which are both portrayed in this short story. The parents spend the night as they would any other as it says here "Well," he said. "What shall it be? Wash the dishes?". They washed the dishes and put the children to bed, as they would any other night. I believe the author is trying to put a new twist on the timeless question “What would you do, if you knew it was the last night of the world?” I believe instead of the answer for this question being something you don’t have or doing something you’ve never done or even just running around crying. This short story takes the answer to a whole new level, making one question how the situation should truly be handled. In the story Bradbury has the characters handle the end with true bravery and courage that one can only hope to emulate. They decided to live their final night as they had lived every other night in their lives. They were so content

I feel as though today courage is used majorly as a differentiation between a child and an adult. Thus, the children are not alerted of the upcoming tragedy, since they have not made the transition to adulthood. The children wouldn’t know how to find the good in that situation and live there final hours in peace. Yet, the effect of the parents not telling the children, is the same as if they had as much courage as their parents. The children lived their final hours the same way they had lived the rest, but for a different reason then the parents. The parents lived this way because they believed they had lived life to the fullest, the children did this because of absence of