“There Will Come Soft Rains” and “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury: A Response
The short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” written by Ray Bradbury is a thought provoking short story on the impact of technological advancement by mankind. The story describes the daily activities of an automated house, beginning with making breakfast, the various daily activities of the family that once lived there, and then their bedtime routines. It is made clear midway through the story that a nuclear explosion has taken the lives of the family that once lived in the house as well as the lives of everyone in the city. Bradbury describes the “five spots of paint- the man, the woman, the children, and the ball- remained” (Bradbury, 2). By the end of the story, a fire consumes the entire house and leaves nothing but a pile of rubble where once an almost living entity of technology stood. Bradbury also describes the way in which despite the destruction of the house, the sun still rose the next day. The point of this story is to show that even the complete annihilation of humans due to, in this case, the creation and use of nuclear technology, does not stop nature from continuing on without us. Bradbury writes to show how nature perseveres despite human destruction. The downfall of humanity because of technological advancement in Bradbury’s story does not stop the sun from rising the next day.
While Bradbury describes the complete annihilation of humanity due to its unchecked power over technology in “There Will Come Soft Rains”, his short story “The Veldt”, touches on something more sinister. The story is about a family whose house has been automated to do everything for them. From making breakfast, tying their shoes, to giving the children a bath, the house has replaced the parents as the provider and caregiver. The nursery where the children play has become their oasis of imagination. When the parents finally discover the dark images the children are conjuring up of Africa, more specifically the lions eating their kill, the father and the psychologist he asks to come visit the nursery order it to be powered off at once. The psychologist feels the dark and serious nature of what is taking place in the nursery; children with no parental guidance being left in the hands of artificial intelligence. The children are so devastated by the decision that the nursery be shut down that they both ask to go in one last time. However, it is a ruse by the children and they trap their parents in the nursery. The end of the story implies that the parents were eaten by the lions that the children imaginations had projected into the nursery technology. In both stories, Ray Bradbury describes a dystopian future in which technology destroys the world. He emphasizes that the reliance on technology takes away the very things that make humans human. Technology, while efficient, does not have a conscience. It does not have the capacity to tell right from wrong, and by depending on technology one loses their sense of reality. Bradbury’s stories are not just for entertainment, they are a warning for the future.
