Technology In Ray Bradbury's 'There Will Come Soft Rain'

Mysteries of Technology

Princess Wells

Northwood University

February 13, 2018

title OF PAPER

Do you ever put too much faith into technology? Technology can be a blessing and a curse; it can destroy us in many ways, mentally to physically. Bradbury utilizes many themes in “There Will Come Soft Rains” that show the dangers of the machines. The house can do anything, well almost everything, except for saving itself. The house continues the same routine every day until nature prevails. The main theme of the story is important to realize as human technology starts to outstay humankind.

One of the first themes present in “There Will Come Soft Rains” was the routine of things. “In the living room, the voice sang, Tick-tock,

The falling tree hits the house. “At ten o’clock the house began to die. The wind blew. A falling tree bough crashed through the kitchen window. Cleaning Solvent, bottled, shattered over the stove. The room was ablaze in an instant! “Fire!” screamed a voice.” (Bradbury 151 pg. 335). The house realized something was off so a voice was let off. “The house tried to save itself Doors sprang tightly shut, but the windows were broken by the heat and the wind blew and sucked upon the fire……. The house gave ground as the fire in ten billion angry sparks moved with flaming ease from room to room and then up the stairs. While scurrying water rats squeaked from the walls, pistoled their water, and ran for more. And the wall sprays let down showers of mechanical rain. But too late………. The reserve water supply which filled the baths and washed the dishes for many quiet days was gone.………But the fire was clever. It had sent flames outside the house, up through the attic to the pumps there. An explosion! The attic brain which directed the pumps was shattered into bronzeshrapnel on the beams.……. The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat……………. And the voices wailed Fire, fire, run, run, like a tragic nursery rhyme, a dozen voices, high, low, like children dying in a forest, alone, alone. And the voices fading as the wires popped their sheathings like hot chestnuts. One, two, three, four, five

Technological advancements are shown but in the end, it ended up as nothing. There was no one left to even serve too. Nature will always prevail, ending up beating technology. The tree branch destroys the house and chaos begins. Ultimately nature beats technology. It is astonishing that even though this short story was published in 1951 it still is pertinent.

Lastly, It is evident throughout “There Will Come Soft Rains” technology will never beat humanity. As endlessly technology is ought to be improved, nature prevails. Bradbury published this short story over 50 years ago and it is still present that technology can be a blessing but moreover a curse. Technology can be unstable and we can’t let it prosper over