An Analysis Of Ray Bradbury's There Will Come Soft Rain

Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” tells of an empty, quiet town with houses that automatically perform its scheduled daily chores. Bradbury uses great detail, repetition, allusion and similes to explain the automatic abilities of the home. In the beginning, Bradbury starts with the house rising for the morning. It speaks through the walls and ceiling the time, date and place. He says “Today is August 4, 2026," said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling., "in the city of Allendale, California." It repeated the date three times for memory's sake. "Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills” (Bradbury 1). He uses repetition

The rooms were acrawl with the small cleaning animals, all rubber and metal. They thudded against chairs, whirling their mustached runners, kneading the rug nap, sucking gently at hidden dust. Then, like mysterious invaders, they popped into their burrows. Their pink electric eye faded. The house was clean” (Bradbury 1). He takes great detail and persistence to remind the reader of the scheduled time, saying the chore and performing it. The mice are conveyed as if they were humans, completing the daily chores. Once they are done, they hide away until their next scheduled time. He uses repetition and continues to announce throughout the day the time of which the house would perform the next scheduled activity. Bradbury also uses similes to create a comparison to the actions of the house, he says “At four o'clock the tables folded like great butterflies back through the paneled walls.” and “The dinner dishes manipulated like magic tricks…”(Bradbury 2). His comparisons show the reader the abilities of the automatic home. The home carefully performs the daily scheduled activities as it goes throughout the day. In the end of the story, the house begins to collapse onto itself ruining