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Compare And Contrast There Will Come Soft Rains And Alas Babylon

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Albert Einstein once prophesied: “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” due to the harmful evolution of technology from wars. In "There will come soft rains" by Ray Bradbury and "Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank, we follow a timeline where technology leads to human destruction, exploring the theme of technology as a double-edged sword that could either serve and protect humans or destroy them. Literary devices like personification in "There will come soft rains" and imagery- sight, and sound in "Alas Babylon'' are used to convey this idea."

In “There will come soft rains” by Ray Bradbury, there are many instances where the author gives human characteristics to …show more content…

The onset of war between the US and the Soviet Union quickly reduced major cities to rubble, including the small town of Fort Repose. When the protagonist Randy Bragg goes out to evaluate the impact, he states: "The streets were filled with twisted metal, shattered glass, and smoking rubble. The debris of an entire city was piled high in the streets. The debris had a weird radioactive aftermath at night as if it was glowing… I couldn't believe my eyes." (Page 78, Frank). Randy's flabbergasted reaction to the destruction of even a small town like Fort Repose emphasizes the indiscriminate nature of the technology and that the aftermath caused by the weapon is too much to process for anyone’s eyes. The radioactive aftermath of the destruction that is seen by Randy also underscores how the same technology can have long-lasting, damaging effects. Overall, this picture description serves to reinforce the idea that technology is capable of causing devastating amounts of destruction that humans cannot visualize. Although the warheads destroyed most of the electric equipment, old-school ones like radios and Walkie Talkies survived which greatly aided Randy. He states that “The smaller and older equipment survived, and they helped us greatly, they gave us the tiny stroke of hope to hear the melodic voice of a government worker. ” (Page 157, Frank). Randy's appreciation for earlier technologies demonstrates how beneficial even outdated technology can be. In this instance, technology serves the opposite of its destructive aspect by helping mankind. When Randy describes government employees as having a melodic voice, it implies that he and the other residents of Fort Repose are weary of the effects of the war and want the government to assist them.

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956 Words | 4 Pages

Composers present dramatic rehearsals of destroyed worlds in the future, run not by their inhabitants but by overseeing powers who use technology to control how the people live. Aldous Huxleys ‘Brave New World’ and Ray Bradburys ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ although having some similar themes surrounding destroyed future and the prevalence of technology, their futures are shown in very different ways, Brave New World being a dystopia and There Will Come Soft Rains being post apocalypse. On one hand, Huxley's Brave New World is under totalitarian control by The World State and gives its people effectively no free will and technology is what their society runs on. Meanwhile, Bradbury's There Will Come Soft Rains presents a future in which humans

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448 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the existence of literature, there have been numerous pieces that portrays life in a dystopian American. In the narrative, "By the Water of Babylon", Stephen Vincent Benet tells the story of a young priest 's journey to gather metal in a post-apocalyptic New York City. In contrast, the Pulizter Prize winning novel, The Road, Cormac McCarthy displays the hardships faced by a middle-aged man and his adolescent son as they travel south through an ash covered wasteland that were once the Appalachian Mountains. Even though these pieces of fiction are seperated by decades of various turmoil, the authors accomplish numerous comparisons and contrasts that exemplify a post-apocalyptic America.

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546 Words | 3 Pages

One of my favorite descriptions of the horrible destruction was “I look out at the expanse of water. My neighborhood is buried… I look at the water. It’s nasty.” (pg 204). It made me imagine I was there, and was trying to find out what to do.

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414 Words | 2 Pages

28, February, 2023 Vubbara 1 Walker 1B English 1 ADV The Risks of Uncontrolled Technology Environmental Destruction can have disastrous results, emphasizing the significance of making responsible decisions and respecting the natural environment. This belief is seen clearly in Stephen Vincent Benet’s post apocalyptic short story, “By The Waters of Babylon,” through the plot development seen throughout John’s Journey. Additionally, this is seen in Ray Bradbury’s Sci-Fi short story, “A Sound of Thunder,” through the plot development seen after Eckels killed the butterfly in the past. Both "By the Waters of Babylon" and "A Sound of Thunder" show the devastation that human activity has caused to the ecosystem, serving as a warning that our choices

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961 Words | 4 Pages

It is horrifying how nothing can prevent a disaster like war and the damages that it causes, letting us compare it to a shadowy valley of gloom. Throughout the novel, Remarque tries to tell us how the war destroyed the lives of the ’lost generation’ and how affected they were by shell

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1292 Words | 6 Pages

And so late in the night, when they took mortar fire from across the river, all they could do was snake down the slop and lie there and wait. The field just exploded. Rain and slip and shrapnel, it all mixed together, and the field seemed to boil. He would explain this to Kiowa’s father. Carefully, not covering up his own guilt… My own fault, he would say.”

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772 Words | 4 Pages

A few days after The Day, everyone is completely changed mentally, “On this, the third day after The Day, the character of Fort Repose had changed. Every building still stood, no brick had been displaced, yet all was altered, especially the people. Earlier Randy has noticed that some of the plate-glass store windows had cracked under the shock waves from stamps and Orlando…There was no commerce. There were few people. Altogether, Randy saw only four or five cars in motion” (153).

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908 Words | 4 Pages

Karla Elizondo Mr. Pierce ENG 1013 December 4, 2016 Analysis of There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury As we advance in technology we seem to have a fear of replacement, causing us to worry and think about our own future. Throughout the years we can see how technology has made our lives easier, yet it can’t take charge on its own. Ray Bradbury’s Short Story ‘There will come soft rain’ was written in his perspective in how things would be in August 4th 2026 as he repeatedly mentioned. This Story takes place in a radioactive town in Allendale, California, inside the only house that remained after a nuclear bomb incident has taken all the human life.

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612 Words | 3 Pages

The Battle of Nature and Technology Ray Bradbury’s distrust of technology is clear in his short story “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Written in 1950 and with World War II fresh on his mind, Bradbury knew that the possibility of a nuclear war was a reality. According to author Donna Haisty, “In Bradbury’s prophetic look at the future of modern society, human beings by the year 2026 have advanced to the point where they can control their material realm, but they cannot control their own destructive tendencies” (3). Bradbury uses personification and science fiction to show and magnify human conditions to his main character, the house, and to prove how nature will always defeat technology.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

In both stories, people’s misuse of technology is the major theme that shows why humans no longer reign. In Ray Bradbury 's story “There Will Come Soft Rains”, it seems that the misuse of technology helps expand the war, because there are lots of traces of bombs; and now the people are

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1768 Words | 8 Pages

Three dead inside a fireball on predators--- What else could a war be?” (Finkel 79). Soldiers find it hard to reconnect with loved ones after the war, like Norman who’s dad was only obsessed with him getting a medal. People in the U.S. and outside of the war don’t have the same idea of what’s going on compared to the people actually experiencing it firsthand.

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1036 Words | 5 Pages

When Humans Die, Earth Will Seldom Notice It is a well known fact that Man was nature’s creation, while technology was that Man’s own. Ray Bradbury speaks on what he thinks of it in his short story: “There Will Come Soft Rains”. Bradbury lets his readers identify with the human qualities presented in what Man has made to encourage empathy toward his ‘main character’. However, he also presents the impossibility of replicating certain aspects of human life with the cold and calculated ways already established at a machine’s core.

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466 Words | 2 Pages

At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles” (Bradbury 10). In the quote, it explains the disappearances of the people and the destruction in most houses from the nuclear bomb that occurred in that place. In essence, machinery humans use is a destructive force that left a radioactive glow because it was the nuclear bomb that destroyed many buildings and innocent people which connects to the people who let the bomb loose and didn’t care to save lives, but to destroy it to save themselves. By the same token, the story also

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969 Words | 4 Pages

Bradbury believes that technology is a benefactor when it comes to the aid of people’s lives. However, Bradbury is also wary of the unintentional hazards technological innovation may cause, and fears technology that seems to replace human responsibility. Bradbury sums up his doubts, stating that technology should never come at the expense of human life. These ideologies are displayed throughout the following short stories: “The Veldt,” “There Will Come Soft Rains,” and “A Sound of Thunder.” Each story contains the underlying theme that technology must be wielded with great care.

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495 Words | 2 Pages

Ray Bradbury’s short story, There Will Come Soft Rains, has elements of destruction, and what the future holds for mankind. It tells the story of a self operating house that carries out its day to day duties as , after a nuclear holocaust has occurred. In addition to this short story Rad Bradbury includes a poem by the same name written by Sarah Teasdale’s. While these two pieces of literature resemble each other in many ways, they also differentiate in just as many.

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