In many literary works, the house is presented as one of the most essential parts of the novel. The authors give it a particular character, like living characters, a specific meaning, add important plot events to attract the reader’s attention to it. In the work “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, the house is endowed with just human qualities, gaining a full-fledged role in the work. This is an intelligent home that continues its work even after the death of its inhabitants.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” is a short story by writer Ray Bradbury about a future in which a nuclear war destroyed the human race. It was the last house that survived the events of the war and the destroyed city “gave off a radioactive glow” at nights (Bradbury, n.d.). It begins with a description of the ordinary day of a smart home, which all people would probably have in those days of significant progress. However, daily actions begin to get out of hand because “the morning house lay empty” (Bradbury, n.d.). The house is the only character in this work, and the author skillfully describes it as a full-fledged person.
The author actively uses the technique of personification to give human features to the house. It acts as a complicated tool for identifying the problems in the work in poetic texts (Sayakhan, 2019). Therefore, in the story, it seems that the house feels something is wrong, worries about every unnecessary sound in the house and beyond. The author writes, “it had shut up its windows and drawn shades in an old-maidenly preoccupation with self-protection which bordered on a mechanical paranoia,” creating the impression of anxiety and tension (Bradbury, n.d.). Paranoia is a feeling inherent in a purely human being, but it does not cause any doubts when attributing it to an inanimate object. At this point, the reader begins to see the house as the immediate protagonist.
However, a smart home cannot exist for a long time without its owners. Suddenly, as a climax of the story, a fire starts in it, which incredibly destroys the entire house. Despite the support of advanced technologies in the form of unique robots, the house cannot avoid inexorable death. Bradbury emphasizes that the house does not just ignite, but “at ten o’clock the house began to die” (Bradbury, n.d.). By doing so, the author finally shows that this house is not just a structure but a living organism.
In addition to describing the emotional characteristics of the house, the author also resorts to its physical description. Bradbury does not write about the resolution of beams or walls; the author describes the death of an intelligent home as falling “oak bone on bone,” “skeleton cringing from the heat,” and “nerves revealed as if a surgeon had torn the skin off to let the red veins and capillaries quiver in the scalded air” (Bradbury, n.d.). The house fell, leaving behind only a pile of smoke and ash.
In conclusion, in the literary work “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, the house is presented as the narrative’s main character. In the story about the post-war time, the author showed a darkly ironic story of the existence of an intelligent home. Left without inhabitants, an unexpected fire destroyed the house. In the literary work, he is described as a real person with his experiences, emotions, and even components similar to the bones and ribs of the human body.
References
Bradbury, R. (n.d). There Will Come Soft Rains. Web.
Sayakhan, N. I. (2019). The use of personification and apostrophe as facilitators in teaching poetry. Journal of Language Studies, 1(4), 98-106. Web.