52 pages • 1 hour read
There Will Come Soft Rains
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Essay Topics
“There Will Come Soft Rains” is a story without any human characters. Why do you think Bradbury chose to write a story about the experiences of the house rather than the people who lived in it? What effect does the lack of human characters have on the readers’ understanding of the text?
Who or what is the “main character” of this story? Are there any other characters? Can you identify a protagonist and antagonist (or a hero and a villain)? If so, what makes one a hero and the other a villain?
What is the narrator’s role in the story? Consider the differences between first-person, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient narration. How does the narrator’s perspective affect the reader’s understanding of the events that take place in the story? How would the story be different if, for example, it used a first-person perspective?
What is the author/narrator’s attitude toward technology? What evidence from the text shows this attitude? Does this seem like a story that celebrates technology, or is it skeptical about technological progress?
What is the role of the dog in the story? Does it provide any background details for the reader that the narrator doesn’t? Does the dog symbolize something?
In the 1950 Collier’s version, the story took place in 1985. Bradbury published another version of the story (also in 1950), setting it in the year 2057. Why do you think the author chose to move the date so far forward in the second version? What effect does it have on the reader’s understanding of the story?
What is the effect of the “voice-clock” announcements in the story? Why do you think the story constantly mentions the time? How does the constant tracking of time relate to themes in the story?
How does the Sara Teasdale poem the story alludes to affect our understanding of the themes? What similarities and differences do you see in the world presented by the story when compared to the world the poem describes?
Consider the imagery in the story. What images stand out the most? How do the images relate to its wider themes?
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By Ray Bradbury
