Continuing the Golden Age of SF, leave a substantial comment to this blog post that includes summary of your lecture notes from Monday’s class and a summary of your reading of Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains.”
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Mike Paar
After Class Summery
3/14/16
Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” is a story looking at a single day of a home after a nuclear apocalypse kills off mankind. Instead of focusing on any human characters, as there are none to be found, it instead focuses on the technology that are incorporated into the housing structure and how it’s programs continue it’s scheduled tasks despite there being no one occupying the home for a seemingly long time. Tasks include announcing the time, preparing the food, readying space for games and feeding the dog. This in turn gives us a look into what life was like for the owners of the house, now disintegrated in a nuclear blast. But the story also drives home the point that technology, despite all of its wonders, is still unaware and uncaring of our own existence. It will tend to our needs because that is what it is programmed to do, but it would be unaware of our absence when faced with it.
The story reaches it’s climax when a fire breaks out in the home due to an act of nature. The house attempts to put out the fire and save itself, but all of its efforts fail and the fire spreads to the point in which the house collapses. Despite the damage done to the building, the time announcement remains, calling out the date in a seemingly endless loop.
The lecture today continued to discuss the works of the golden age of Science Fiction, mostly on the works of Ray Bradbury. Bradbury was an anomaly in the world of Science Fiction literature simply due to the fact that he was viewed favorably among the rest of the literary establishment when other SF authors tended to be viewed down upon. He was the first science fiction author to be reviewed on the front page of the NYTimes book review and his most notable work, “Fahrenheit 451” was first published in Playboy. His works maintained five notable characteristics throughout his career. Fist was that his writing was very poetic in prose. Second, he typically displayed an anti-technological bias. Third, he often celebrated innocence and simplicity. Fourth, his works often held a sense of loss from youth into adulthood. And finally he often used masks as a way to promote symbolism marking attraction or danger.
The story opens with a clock announcing that it is time to wake up and a hint of premonition that perhaps no one will. In the kitchen, the stove cooks breakfast and a voice from the ceiling announces the setting: Allendale, California, on August 4, 2026. The automated house prepares itself for the day, but its inhabitants have not responded to several wakes up calls, breakfast, the weather box, or the waiting car. The robotic mice finish cleaning the house, and it is revealed that the family who lived in the house—two parents, a daughter and son— have died. They are now “five spots of paint” against a house covered with a “thin charcoal layer.” The city is in rubble and the “radioactive glow” emitted in the area indicates that an atomic blast has wiped out Allendale, if not the world. The family dog returns to the house and is let in by the front door which recognizes the dog’s whine. He is alive but injured from the bomb. Covered with mud he enters the house, and the robotic cleaning mice are annoyed that they will need to clean up after him. Within an hour the dog is dead, presumably from radiation poisoning. Afternoon settles in and the house continues it’s routine. A card table is set up, drinks are poured, the nursery transforms into a jungle scene. The stove prepares a dinner that will not be eaten and a faceless voice begins to read a poem by Sara Teasdale, an American poet who killed herself in 1933. The poem tells of a soft rain that falls while nature circles, shimmers, and sings, amidst a war that neither birds nor frogs care about—even if all the people die. At the poem’s end, a wind comes up, spills a bottle, and starts a fire that quickly engulfs the house. Mechanical mice and faucets come to the rescue, but the fire prevails. The voices within the house begin to die and the house implodes. All that remains is “smoke and silence.” Dawn appears, and one last, lone mechanical voice announces the new day: August 5, 2026.
Today we talked about science fictions works in Golden ages but mostly Ray Bradbury who was born in 1920 and died in 2012. He was a science fiction writer and he was the 1st science fiction writer to be in the front page of the New York Magazine. His 5 characteristics of his writing are: 1. His writing poetic, symbolic, and nostalgic which he mixes with fantasy, mystery etc, 2. Anti technology, 3, there is celebration of sympathy and innocent, 4.Sense of lose as youth changes into adulthood, and 5. In many of his stories have both danger and attraction of mask.
Darius Freeman
Professor Ellis
ENG 2420
March 14, 2016
After Class Summary: “There Will Come Soft Rains”
“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury is a commentary on the mentality and realities of total war. In this short story, war has ravaged a town and we see the aftermath of a nuclear bomb being dropped on the town. Some of the effects of the bomb are the shadow of the family who used to live in an autonomous house being immortalized on the side of the house where their bodies we blocking the heat rays from the house and a dog that survived but still not without severe radiation poisoning. Even with all f this disaster and tragedy the house still function as normal. As if nothing has ever happened and as is everyone is still living in it. It wakes everyone up, makes meals, clears meals, plans parties and reads poetry. Everything in the house continues as “normal”, that is, until a tree comes crashing through the window and stars a fire while the house is preparing a meal. The house tries it’s best to put the fire out but it is futile and the house burns down. However one thing survives, the alarm clock, still signaling a family who is no longer there.
During class we learned that Ray Bradbury wrote this as a commentary on the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the impending Cold War. He means to say that if we destroy each other, which we have the power to do, no one will miss us. Not even the technology we created. This is seen as the house goes about its sequence in its programming as usual not even aware that no one is there. Although Ray got his start from humble beginnings, he went on to be a very accomplished Science Fiction writer. Even being published in Playboy and becoming the first Science Fiction writer to be reviewed on the first page of the NY Times Book Review.
“There will come soft rains” begins in an odd fashion. The house seems to be alive, making food and doing dishes for people who don’t seem to be present. The story focuses on technology instead of humans or any one protagonist. The house runs on a schedule, making breakfast and completing tasks, but all humans were killed off in an all-out nuclear attack. We even see the house feeding the dog that belongs to the missing people of the house. The technology is unaware of the fate of the human race, which is why it continuously completes its scheduled tasks. At the end of the story, due to natural occurrences, the house is set on fire, and although it attempts to save itself, the house it destroyed. The most eerie thing, the house is destroyed except for the announcement of the dates, which is all that remains of the house.
In the lecture, we spoke about Ray Bradebury (1920-2012). What struck me most about Bradebury was when he spoke about how he went to the library and read every book in the library due to the fact that he was unable to go to college. There are five characteristics of his writing: 1. It is poetic, symbolic, and nostalgic. 2. There is an anti-technological bias. 3. There are celebrations of simplicity and innocence. 4. There is a sense of loss as youth changes into adulthood. And 5. There’s both danger and attraction of mask. Some of Bradebury’s works are “The Martian Chronicles” (1950), which is similar to Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot”. The term M.A.D. came about, which stands for mutually assured destruction. There also came “Illustrated Man” (1951) and “Fahrenheit 451” (1953). “There will come soft rains” (1950) was more post atomic warfare, centering around the atomic bombings in Japan during WWII.
The story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” written by Ray Bradbury and published in 1950 in Collier’s magazine is about a post-nuclear environment, where humans were vaporized and machines are what remains, along with its programmed functions. The story opens to an entirely automated house making breakfast, doing chores, and other programmed functions, even though there was no one for the machine to serve. It probably did this day to day, but the story only describes of one day. This is when a gust of wind knocked a tree over and hits the house, where it smashes cleaning solvent over on the stove and it catches fire. The house tells the family to get out, that there is a fire. The house tries to put out the fire, but is unable to, and the house burns down. Then, the morning of the next day, the house says the date.
In our class lecture, we continued on the Golden Age of SF (GASF). Ray Bradbury, born in 1920 and died recently in 2012, is a part of GASF. He was born in Waukegan, Illinois, but lived in LA from his teen years till his death. Bradbury brought SF out of SF “ghetto”. He was also the first SF writer to be reviewed in New York Times book reviews. His writings has 5 characteristics: 1. His writing is poetic, symbolic, and nostalgic. 2. There is anti-technological bias. 3. Celebration of simplicity and innocence. 4. Sense of loss as youth changes into adulthood. 5. There is both danger and attraction of mask.
Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains”, is a short story which is about a fully programmed smart house of the McClellan family in Allendale, California which still continues to do the daily tasks or instructions it was programmed to do even though the humans that once lived inside it are dead due to a nuclear apocalypse kills them off and every other human being ; the only thing left is their shadowy body prints on the walls of the house. It is the one house that’s still standing tall as the other homes are stuck in ruins around the entire neighborhood. On August 4, 2026, the house proceeds with its usual routine: serving breakfast, then cleaning up afterwards, sprinkling the garden, and usual cleaning the inside of the home. Afterwards its time for the house to get the kids ready who aren’t alive anymore with the usually routine that was set for them at takes place at 4:30 pm, at 5 pm a bath is filled, and at 9 pm a poem is read aloud for the use of Mrs. McClellan the once lady of the house who is also dead; but the house still doesn’t get it that no one is there anymore they’re all dead, even when there is a stray dog that sneaks in around twelve o clock , but it only walks around for a few seconds before also dying ; the robotic cleaning mice quickly clean up the dead body; as it hits 10pm that night, after the poem is read out loud a falling tree falls through the kitchen window, starting a stove fire, which has fire spreading throughout the whole house, until it explodes and dies in the end. The next morning, all that’s left of the house and its usually programmed routine is the voice repeating mechanically, “Today is August 5, 2026.”
In conclusion There Will Come Soft Rains as discussed in class is a short story that was written by Ray Bradbury during WW1 that has many characteristics. The first is that its Poetic with the melody that automatic house plays as its part of its daily routine in the end. The second is the Symbolism taking place which is that the house and the entire neighborhood stuck in ruins is a symbol of humans beings were valued less than technology due to the fact it’s the tech we as human built survives longer than we do as we are unnoticeable gone. Then last is that there’s a mix of sci-fi and horror like the TV series The Twilight Zone.
John Darius
ENG2420
Chapter Summary: “There Will Come Soft Rains”
“There Will Come Soft Rains,” is a short story written by Ray Bradbury and it was published in 1950. “There Will Come Soft Rains” is about an intelligent house that is faced with the aftermath of a nuclear attack. Throughout the story we find out that no one lives in the house and that the house operates on it’s own. The house even turns on the stove and cooks breakfast on it’s own. Later on in the story we learn that anyone who approaches the house must say a password to come in. The house eventually burns down due to a fire.
In class we learned that Ray Bradbury, the writer of “There Will Come Soft Rains,” was known to be the first science fiction writer to be reviewed on the first page on the million times book review, and that he was also known to bring science fiction into a wider culture. Ray Bradbury was also known to have characteristics to his writing. Ray’s writing was known to be poetic, symbolic, and nostalgic. His writing was also known to be technological bias. Ray Bradbury also had simplicity and innocence to his writing along with describing that many stories is both danger and attraction of masks. One of Ray Bradbury’s other works is “Fahrenheit 451” which was published in 1931 and was about a future in which books are illegal, and a fireman’s duty was to burn books instead of putting out fires.
In the short story there will come soft rains by Ray Bradbury talk about how war can desapear a all family and just leaving a. Dog as a survivor of the all family, but with several health problems after the Nuclear bomb that was drop in this war. Going more deep into the story thesre was a smart house in where the all family that died with in this bomb lived, this family was composed for two children a girl and a boy plus their parents. This hause was usually and independent house it does everything for itself, cleans, cook, and take care of the same. As any machine this house didn’t feel or understoood when the people that lives there were gone. As usual it keeps doing the rutine every day. Until the day the house desapears do to a fire, it burn all and there is when all this rutine stops for it.
During class we talk about bradbury like he was the first SF writer that was in the front page of the new york time book. We also discuss 5 diferent characteristics of the same. 1) his writing was poetic, symbolic and nostalgic, 2) he was an anti-technological bius, 3) celebration of simplicity and innocence, 4) sence of lost in youngh and changes i to adulthood and the last one the 5) in many of her stories there is a dangerous and atraction of mask.
Ray Bradbury’s There will come soft rains is a short story about a house in the future where it seems humanity has wiped itself out through nuclear warfare. Rather than told through characters the story focuses on the a single day routine the house goes through day to day. From announcing the date in the mornings and making breakfast for the family, to reading a poem at night for its master to sleep at night. The story ends with a tree falling on the house and causing a fire, unable to put out the fire the house collapses and has enough power to announce the date of the next day. The story feels very sad as humanity reached a point where a house can do daily chores on its own but wiped themselves out to never again enjoy it. The story evokes a feeling of emptiness through solid imagery in a hopeless atmosphere. In class we continued to discuss the golden age of science fiction. Ray Bradbury was the first SF writer to be reviewed in the new York times and possessed five characteristics that made his stories standout. These are symbolic and poetic writing, anti technological bias, a celebration of simplicity and innocence, sense of loss as youths turn into adults, and a danger and attraction to masks. Some of his works include the grapes of wrath, the illustrated man, the martian chronicles, and Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451 was actually published in playbook at the time. His most recognizable works came during the era of the cold war.
Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” is a work of its times. It is a critique of the usage and the danger of nuclear weapons, and through nuclear weapons, science. The story takes place in a town that is heavily irradiated by atomic radiation. Yet one house remains standing. This is a highly advanced house capable of withstanding an atomic blast with an AI that runs daily chores. However, it is not sentient resulting in the AI repeating chores routinely even when it does not make sense to. It is closer to an expert system then a true AI, due to the lack of evidence of self-awareness. The AI is unable to detect if the occupants of the house is within the house. The AI makes meals for the occupants of the house every day. It would take out the waste, wash the dishes, and prepare baths which eventually lead to the destruction of the house. It later recognizes a dog suffering from radiation poisoning as belonging to the house, so it lets the dog in. The dog passes away within the house and the carcass gets disposed of. Eventually a storm causes a tree branch to break a window, knocking over cleaning chemicals onto the stove causing a fire. It is this fire that engulfs the house and destroys it, not atomic fire created by man. The fire of Mother Nature is the master of the house not man.
This falls in line with Bradbury’s anti-technological bias. As a self-taught writer, Bradbury has five characteristics in his writing. 1. It is poetic, symbolic, and nostalgic. 2. There is an anti-technological bias. 3. There are celebrations of simplicity and innocence. 4. There is a sense of loss as youth changes into adulthood. And 5. There’s both danger and attraction of mask. Amongst Bradbury’s other works are “Illustrated Man” (1951), “Fahrenheit 451” (1953) as well as “The Martian Chronicles” (1950).
ENG 2420
Kevin A. Gaul
03/20/2016
After-Class Summary: There Will Be Soft Rains
The short story, “There Will Be Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury is about a smart house in a futuristic world continuing it’s scheduled routine, despite the absence of it’s inhabitants due to their demise in a recent nuclear attack. The story starts with the house’s voice alarm clock going off on an August morning, but the house is void of its residents. Regardless, the house’s automatic appliances continue to function as if its inhabitants were present, by making breakfast, announcing the time, date, and weather, etc. These preparations would prove to be pointless, due to the absence of humans in the house, the breakfast has been ignored and overcooked, but the house cleans the kitchen anyway, paying no mind to its human vacancy.
The story then goes on to explain that the house is the last remaining structure in its location, as everything else has been laid to waste by the Atomic Bomb, as well as managing to indirectly explain the demise of the residents of the house while continuing to explain the house’s daily routine, by describing a wall on the side of the house that’s been completely charred save for five silhouettes of the family members that once lived in the house, revealing that they were victims of the Atomic bomb, prior to the beginning of the story. The family dog is also mentioned, being the only surviving member of the house, but also eventually starved to death by the house by denying it entry to the kitchen where food is prepared daily.
The story concludes with the destruction of the house, being destroyed by a fire caused by a tree branch crashing through the kitchen window and breaking a bottle of cleaning solvent over the stove, catching fire and spreading rapidly. Despite the house’s best efforts to put out the fire, it eventually consumes the entire structure, eventually causing it to collapse onto itself. This signifies nature slowly reclaiming the land after the absence of humans. The only remaining piece of the house was a wall that contained the vocal house alarm, which continued to operate and repeat the date of the day that was just beginning. This could represent the house’s stubborn will to continue with its daily routine despite everything that has happened and it’s purpose for existing no longer being around.
Today’s lecture resumed the talk about the Golden Age of SF and one of its major contributors, Ray Bradbury, who is credited to bringing SF to the mainstream, with his works being featured in magazines and newspapers outside of SF, such as Playboy Magazine and NY Times, where he was the first SF writer to be reviewed in its book review. We also discussed his notable works, which include “The Martian Chronicles”, “The Illustrated Man”, “Fahrenheit 451”, and “There Will Come Soft Rains”.
“There Will Come Soft Rain” by Ray Bradbury, lived from 1920 to 2012, starts on August 4th, 2026. The deserted modern house proceeds to function with the silhouettes of the family imprinted on the side of the wall. It starts off with making breakfast for eight. The sent of bacon and eggs alerts the dog. As the dog enters the house thin and pale, he starts salivating at the mouth. Then call for a car to get the family, I suppose. 10am the cleaning robotic mice clean the house. The house proceeds in the anticipation of a party. Poker tables are set, alcohol is set, and horderves are put out. Dinner starts to cook, but there is a fire that the house can’t put out due to the tree that has fallen through the house. As the house tries to save itself, the poem “There Will Come Soft Rain” is read.
4 characteristics of the Golden Age are there was focus on hard sciences, better writing, American phenomenon, and centered around the editorship of John W Campbell Jr. John W Campbell Jr. live from 1910 to 1971 went to MIT where he met Weiner in Cybernetics. In 1937, became editor of Astounding Stories and improved it by gathered great writers/ developing writers. 4 rules for good science fiction that he established are conditions of the story must differ from the here and now, the new conditions must drive the plot of the story, the plot must revolve around human problems arising from the new conditions, and no scientific facts may be violated without reasonable explanation
Ray Bradbury’s short stories “There Comes Soft Rain” is about the daily routine of a smart home, in a futuristic dystopia. The story starts off with the smart home automatically making breakfast, but there is no one present in the house to eat it. The next scene takes the readers are led outside the house where the automatic sprinklers come on. On the side of one of the walls of the house there are scorched marks covering the home except for the silhouettes of a man and woman doing yard work and a boy and girl throwing a ball. Past the house, the neighborhood is charred and in rumbles and a radioactive glow hangs over the city. Later in the story, a dog enters the empty home covered with sores. Exploring the home the dog eventually dies and the smart home detecting decay, uses robotic mice to clean up the dogs body. Following the same nightly routine the house starts making dinner, while making diner a tree falls on the house causing a fire and consumes the home in flames. The fire eventually destroys the house.
In today’s lecture we talked about the Ray Bradbury and his contributions to the Golden Age of Science fiction. We discussed how Bradbury work was featured in playboy. We talked about the five characteristic of his own writing the first being poetic, symbolic, and nostalgic, the second being anti-technological bias the third the celebrations of simplicity and innocence the fourth being a sense of loss as youth changes into adulthood and the fifth being danger and attraction of mask.
Soshana
In this story, we go through a day in an automated house after a nuclear attack in a residential area. The author describes the house’s morning ritual. Cooking breakfast and cleaning up. Then describes the silhouettes of a mother, father, and two children where the house was protected from the blast. We then return inside to go through some more of the daily ritual. The house does realize no one is there but it’s programmed on an endless loop and can’t think for itself to stop its actions. Eventually the dog that belonged to the owners of the house returns and tracks mud through the house. The house expresses a sort of displeasure in having to clean it. The dog runs around looking for people frothing at the mouth and dies. The mice that clean bring it to the incinerator. So days pass and a storm happens and knocks a tree through the window in the kitchen. The tree breaks a bottle of cleaning fluid onto the stove which sets the house on fire. The house attempts to put the fire out and fails.
In class we discussed Ray Bradbury and his life. He couldn’t afford college so he graduated himself when he finished reading all the library’s books. We talked about the characteristics of his writing and why he wrote this particular story. We also talked about how he was more published in wider, more popular magazines.
Mathew Tackett
5.24.16
In “There Will Come Soft Rains”, the story isn’t about a single character but actually about the lack of characters after a nuclear apocalypse kills off mankind. The story focuses on a house leftover with all it’s built in features still working and automatically doing things. The house continues to make breakfast, tell the time, readying areas for people to come home from work or play, and even feeding the dog despite the fact that the humans who once inhabited the space no longer exist. The house for all it knows just continues on in spite of our existence or lack thereof. It shows in essence that everything will continue to exist and continue on even after we as a species are gone. The climax of the story is when a fire breaks out in the kitchen and the house attempts to save itself. It fails and the house is burned to the ground. Despite all that the eerie time announcements continue through the pile of rubble left over. The author of the story is Ray Bradbury, he is considered an anomaly in the science fiction world due to the fact that his works were viewed favorably at first rather then looked down upon at the start. His works are always poetic, he despises technology, he celebrates the innocence and simplicity of the world and he likes to show a sense of loss when it comes to growing up. He likes using masks to symbolize danger and attraction in his stories.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury is a story about a family who dies from and atomic bomb destruction and their image are plaster on the side of the wall. After the family dies the house become alive due to some radioactive wave. The house cooks, clean and waters the front yard by its self since is set on a timer which the owner once left. There is also a dog which is nearly dying from the after affects of this destruction. After a tree falls in the kitchen next to stove it ignited a fire which burn the entire house to pieces. After the house burn down the only thing left was rubble of dust and debris from the destruction.
In the class lecture we talked about the Ray Bradbury and his 5 characteristics 1. His writing is poetic, symbolic, and nostalgic. 2. There is anti-technological bias. 3. Celebration of simplicity and innocence. 4. Sense of loss as youth changes into adulthood. 5. There is both danger and attraction of mask.