Summary Of August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains

Based on evidence provided in the story, “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains”, it can be inferred that the apocalyptic city of Allendale, California was afflicted by a nuclear explosion, possibly caused by a bomb. Throughout the story, highly futuristic and technologically advanced machines are scattered throughout the house. Because the story was written in 1950, the author was envisioning what 2026 might look like. The author added multiple machines including a breakfast maker, a talking alarm clock, and animatronic rats that would clean the house. Many of the house’s features were autonomous, acting upon pre programmed software. Because of all these advances and increases of technology seen in the house, the complexity of other things, possibly nuclear weapons,

On page two of the story, the author states that “... in a city of rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing.” All of the houses in the city had been demolished by something. This something had to be powerful enough to burn and char everything in its path for the author also states, “... the charred west side where the house had been burned evenly free of its white paint . . . the entire west face of the house was black.” A possible cause for this kind of demolition could be a bomb, more specifically a nuclear bomb. Evidence for this can be found on page 2 when the author writes, “At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.” Radioactivity is caused from the decay of unstable particles which is present in certain bombs. For example, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was filled with unstable uranium isotopes that released alpha and beta particles with caused radioactivity. A third piece of textual evidence can be found also on page two, when the author says, “Here the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn.