There_Will_Come_Soft_Rain

Jeremy Campbell Professor McBride intro to literature 17 February 2010 August 2026: There will come soft rains The short story, August 2026: There will comesoft rains is a story full of symbolism personification and other literary devices. The short story is narrated by a disembodied voice with a third person point of view. This disembodied voice describes how the house doses its day to day life activities even though the family that was living in the house is long gone. The story leads u to believe that something horrible has happenedto the city and humanity as it describes the ruins of the city and the silhouettes of the family on the outside of the house. One symbol that is in this story is the voice of the house always rhymeswhen it speaks. Poetry its self is the symbol incorporatinga poem by Sara Teasdale. Also every time the house states the time and what is to be done at that time it will rhyme the time with the objective for that time. Another symbol that is used a lot through this story is the elements such as water and fire. Water is used in the rain that is falling throughout the whole story reflecting the mood and theme of loneliness. The other element that is used is the use of fire in the story how its portrayed as a living entity and also the death of the house itself is associated also with fire. Personification is also used largely throughout the story with both the house and the fire. “itquivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window the shade snapped up.”(Bradbury 947). As if the house could hear the sound or feel the touch of the sparrow as if it was a human. The house also has the protective instinct to defend its self as any other human. The biggest part of Personification is as the house is burning the narrator describes the destruction as if it was happing to a human as the outside of the house burns away it is the skin and the inside frame of the house is the skeleton. The way the fire is described is that it is smart and thinking as if it was a function human with a brain. “The fire backed off, as even anelephant must at the sight of a dead snake.”(Bradbury 951). The narrator described the fire as if it has human emotions and is able to control the way it moves deciding where to go. The short story by Ray Bradbury is full of different symbols and Personifications. With a dark and depressing tone of the house being alone with only a dog to take care of for a short time with it even eventually dyeing. Giving the theme that human, animal, and even eventually the house its self dies showing that nothing last forever. That over time things grow old and that eventually time will take over and finally win.