How Does Bradbury Use Symbols In All Summer In A Day

In the short story, All Summer In A Day one of the main crafts used is symbolism. The story is set on the planet Venus, where it is a complete jungle covered with constant rain where the sun never comes out. The main character, Margot, is from earth so unlike the other children she has seen the sun, which makes the other children jealous. This jealousy causes the children to lock Margot in a closet while the sun is out. The author, Ray Bradbury, uses it to show the power of symbolism in a story, he uses many different ways to exemplify this but there are three main ways that it shows this. Through the symbolism of the sun, the symbolism of the darkness and rain, and the symbolism of the planet Venus. The symbolism of the sun is the main craft piece used in the story. The text uses it in many different ways but the way it is used most is a hope. The text says many times how much all of the children are excited for the sun, here saying, “The children pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a look at the hidden sun. It rained.” (Bradbury, pg. 1) It shows how excited the children are, fighting, pushing and squeezing, just trying to see a sun that

These two things are the visible reason behind the lack of the sun. It is the symbol of their emotions. The sun is their hope, their joy. The sun never left Venus, it always has been there but it is the darkness and rain that covers it. The children still have hope, and joy but it is covered by their despair. This is what drives them to make the decision to put Margot in the closet, they know; it is wrong and they know that they shouldn’t do it. It’s the despair caused by the darkness that clouds their judgement that makes them hurt Margot. And we can even see the effect of the darkness leaving on the children. After the sun comes out they realise what they’ve done. The text shows their realisation like