There Will Come Soft Rains Analysis

Situated in the aftermath of World War II in the 1950’s, a young Bradbury decided to write his poem “There Will Come Soft Rains”. Broadcasted to the entirety of the world, the atomic bombs dropped on Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki not only ended the war but also demonstrated a new power that could devastated millions by deciding their fate. Radiation and explosions threatened the very existence of humanity ,and with the growing volatile tensions forming between the two superpowers of the world, the United States and the U.S.S.R., imminent death was a real worry for individuals situated in both countries. Bradbury becoming a young man in this very tumultuous time was heavily influenced by these outside events which he expressed in his writing.

In “There Will Come Soft Rains” Bradbury portrays a story of a vacant yet operating house which mainly addresses the theme the american nightmare. Through the repeated use of machine personification, parallelism, and intense imagery, Bradbury attempts to stir emotions by creating a dystopian society without the burdens of humans which killed themselves involuntary through nuclear weapons.
Utilized by Bradbury to show the redundancy of day to day actions while still conjuring humanity importance as a role that can be filled by anything such as machines,personification is widely spread throughout the story.

In the short story, Bradbury states “Until this day, how well the house had kept its peace. How carefully it had inquired”(2). The fact that Bradbury used the phrase until this day , immediately implies that this event of the house caring for itself has been occurring for a long time. Bradbury demonstrates the American Nightmare through this sentence by showing that humanity is not need to keep the peace but actually obstructs it. This theme ruins the pivotal idea that the world revolves around humanity. Also by stating that the house itself had inquired, the distant object of the house is given humanity’s intellect and reasons which later leads to its destruction. Bradbury also states “ In the kitchen, an instant before the rain of fire and timber, the stove could be seen making breakfasts at a psychopathic rate”(4). Destruction through fire of the house is symbolic of the story’s hinted past of humanity being obliterated by nuclear warfare. The fire was caused by the house again mirroring humanity’s intellect which lead to its end. The oven is personified here by saying that it is completing an action without humanity’s help at a psychiatric rate. This urge to normalcy no matter the crazy situation is foreshadowed by the assumption that during the nuclear warfare mass hysteria was

widespread.
Parallelism conjures a timeline to the events playing out in the short story which gives order to the overall context while showing the rapids speed of the things occurring. Bradbury states “ Twelve noon. A dog whined, shivering, on the front porch.The front door recognized the dog voice and opened” (2) and then writes “ Two-fifteen. The dog was gone.In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl of spark leaped up the chimney”(2). The repetition of a time and then a simple sentence associates that specific time with the action occurring. This not only shows order without humans, but also the robotic nature of machines. Also the reader can assume based on the words being said that the time statement are being blurted by an alarm clock. Since this structure is repeated all throughout the short story, Bradbury implies that the alarm clock has no one to shut it off. Subsequently this action of it constantly screaming time statement effectively counts down the life of the house and can be tied to a countdown of a bomb. The alarm clock successfully hits on the American Nightmare by reinforces the fact that humanity has been eliminated and its creations have survived and have taken over their role.
An intricate and vivid image is painted through Bradbury use of extremely descriptive words and phrases. Bradbury states “The sun came out from behind the rain. The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing. At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles” (1). Saying that the sun came out after the rain conveys to the reader a new beginning and highlights the main setting of the story. The house is emphasized and given strength because it unlike the other which lay in rubble and ashes is still standing. The radioactive glow mirrors the sun showing that two powerful sources of energy have affected the world. This glow and the solidarity of the house again brings forth the idea that humanity has been wiped out. It, however, builds upon that idea by showing that humanity in a way has achieve their goal of being remembered by permanently damaging the earth.
Conclusively, Ray Bradbury in his short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” effectively illustrates the chaotic fear demonstrated during his time and currently now. His themes of war and mutual destruction are still prevalent today which has caused the world to look at nuclear warfare differently. The American Nightmare theme is strongly conveyed to the reader through his many technique and symbols such as personification, parallelism, and imagery.This theme can be expanded to show that humanity one and only fear is death as a species. All of their actions whether it has been medical research, technological advancement or more has been to prolong life. This obsession, however, can lead to the one thing humanity was trying to avoid, death.