Technology In There Will Come Soft Rains

Samir Dutta

Mrs.Walker

English ADV

23 February 2023

Aid or Pain

Although technological advancement can simplify our lives, it also carries the risk of causing significant harm; However, what would occur if a technological improvement had the potential to cause the death of numerous individuals and significant damage to the environment? In the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” Ray Bradbury composes a compelling story about how advanced technology can operate autonomously, yet they lack purpose and significance without the presence of humans and a higher power. In an additional short story “By the Waters of Babylon,” Stephen Vincent Benet illustrates how a curious priest-in-training ventures into the forbidden "Land of the Gods," only

Bradbury and Benet demonstrate skillful use of plot development of technology in their story to portray the potential benefits and destructive effects of advanced technology on people's lives.

Ray Bradbury's short story, "There Will Come Soft Rains," depicts how technology has simplified people's daily lives and functions. The plot of the story is influenced by an alerting clock, which the author uses to advance the plot. The clock's announcement of "eight-one o'clock, off to school, off to work" goes unanswered, as there is no response from the family- "no doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber heels” (Bradbury 666). The story's fully automated home serves as an example of how modern technology is making our lives easier and benefiting us. Even without occupants, the house goes about its daily tasks like cleaning, preparing meals, and even reading a poem to a nonexistent parent. The author illustrates that advanced technology cannot function flawlessly without human presence. This is exemplified through the repetition of the phrase, "Fire, fire, fire," and the portrayal of how the house depended on people to "save itself" from the "heat" and the "wind" that "blew and sucked upon the fire" (Bradbury 669). By