Ray Bradbury Questions and Answers
Ray Bradbury
What is the theme of "The Highway" by Ray Bradbury?
This short story has a dual theme and is a most interesting study of a much anticipated event during the time in which the story is set. The time period of the setting is integral to...
Ray Bradbury
What themes are in the short story "Embroidery" by Ray Bradbury?
The most important theme from "Embroidery" is the danger of nuclear weapons. Like many of Bradbury's stories, "Embroidery" was written during the Cold War, where nuclear devastation was a very real...
Ray Bradbury
What is the single incident and conflict with the characters in the story "Embroidery" by Ray Bradbury?
In Ray Bradbury's story “Embroidery,” three women are sitting on the porch late in the afternoon embroidering. They are waiting for something, and as they wait, they keep their fingers moving,...
Ray Bradbury
What is the underlying message or theme of the story "The Flying Machine"?
In Ray Bradbury’s “The Flying Machine,” the underlying themes revolve around the notion of technological advancement in society. Specifically, the story deals with the notion that unchecked...
Ray Bradbury
How can "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury be compared?
There are several similarities between the stories “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury. First of all, both houses seem to have a creepy nursery that projects pictures and...
Ray Bradbury
What is the central idea of "A Little Journey" by Ray Bradbury?
While there are several main themes portrayed in this sci-fi short story, perhaps the most central is the idea that humans can be so naive that we even fool ourselves, yet this isn’t always a bad...
Ray Bradbury
What does the Emperor's machine (the garden of metal and jewels) represent to him in the story "The Flying Machine"...
The Emperor's garden of metal and jewels represents his kingdom in miniature as it is right now. It is a representation of beautiful stasis, of the Emperor's desire to control his kingdom so that...
Ray Bradbury
In the story "The Flying Machine" by R. Bradbury, what danger does the flyer's invention pose and why does the...
In "The Flying Machine," published by Ray Bradbury in 1953, the literal danger the Emperor perceives in the creation of the flying machine is that this innovation will cause people to move away...
Ray Bradbury
Do you believe the Emperor is justified in executing the flyer? What would you have done in his position? How...
Each question must be listed separately. I can answer only one. Also, please note that this is my opinion, as your answer should be when you address it. With opinions, there are generally no wrong...
Ray Bradbury
What motivated the two towns to engage in the wall competition in "The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind"? What are the...
One might argue that local pride is the main motivation here. The two Chinese towns are fiercely proud of their respective identities and feel that they are under serious threat from the other....
Ray Bradbury
What social trends does Ray Bradbury observe and see as potential problems for society?
In his novel Fahrenheit 451 and many of his short stories, Bradbury sees human over-reliance on technology as a potentially serious problem for society. In both Fahrenheit 451 and his short story...
Ray Bradbury
What is the theme of Ray Bradbury's story "The Skeleton"?
If you reconsider the basic outlines of the plot, I think you will start to detect the theme of self-destructive obsession and fear of mortality that runs through Bradbury's story "The Skeleton."...
Ray Bradbury
What does the following quotation mean: "There are times...when one must lose a little beauty if one is to keep what...
The quote "There are times...when one must lose a little beauty if one is to keep what little beauty one already has," from "The Flying Machine," by Ray Bradbury, is a paradoxical statement. The...
Ray Bradbury
What does Ray Bradbury say about over- reliance on the Internet and social media?
I think that it is clear that Ray Bradbury would not and did not advocate much of where the internet and social media leads people. He would support the idea that the over-reliance on such...
Ray Bradbury
Why does Doug Spalding decide he must kill Ralph Underhill? Discuss the internal conversations he has with himself...
In The Utterly Perfect Murder, narrator Doug Spaulding decides to travel across America to murder his childhood friend, Ralph Underhill, who still lives in their hometown thirty-six years after...
Ray Bradbury
What is the theme of the story "The Highway" written by Ray Bradbury?
"The Highway" comes from a collection called The Illustrated Man, in which the narrator sees another man's tattoos move and tell each of the stories. A theme which comes up in many of the stories...
Ray Bradbury
Describe Ray Bradbury's style.
Ray Bradbury was a writer who worked primarily within the genres of science fiction and fantasy. He was a master of the short story format. Indeed, it should also be noted that one of his most...
Ray Bradbury
"The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind": Now that the Cold War is over, do you think Bradbury's allegory still has...
Ray Bradbury's "The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind" was published in 1953, during the Cold War, and is an allegorical story about the nuclear arms race between the United States of America and the...
Ray Bradbury
Give an example of foreshadowing from the story "The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury.
Near the end of this story, the emperor executes the inventor of a beautiful flying machine rather than allowing this innovation to destabilize his country. Before that occurs, we have several...
Ray Bradbury
What technique was used in "A Little Journey" by Ray Bradbury?
Ray Bradbury employs the literary technique of situational irony in his sci-fi short story "A Little Journey." In the story, an eighty-five-year-old woman named Mrs. Amelia Bellowes reads an...
Ray Bradbury
In the short story "The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury, why is the setting significant?
First, it is interesting to note that Ray Bradbury enjoyed an... ...incredibly prolific career that spans countless styles, formats, and genres... But what is most interesting with regard to this...
Ray Bradbury
How could I progress with a short story comparison between "There will Come Soft Rains" and "The Veldt" both by Ray...
Both Bradbury short stories can find significant moments of comparison and some distinct points of divergence. What follows are some suggestions that can assist you with the formation of your...
Ray Bradbury
What is a symbol used in the short story "The Utterly Perfect Murder?"
Personally, as a symbol in the short story "The Utterly Perfect Murder," I like the train. To me, it is a symbol of Doug's journey into his past. This is actually supported by the text when...
Ray Bradbury
What is the mood of the women in "Embroidery"?
The mood of a story is the feeling a reader gets as they read it. An author creates the mood of a story by including certain details, selecting words with powerful or interesting connotations, and...
Ray Bradbury
Does Ray Bradbury have an optimistic or pessimistic view of mankind?
Literary critic David Mogen identifies a trope of Ray Bradbury's work as "joyous absorption in the experience of living." Mogen and Gary K. Wolfe, another critic, observe that Bradbury's fiction...
Ray Bradbury
The Golden KIte, The silver Wind What motivavtes the two towns to engage in hte wall building competition? An d what...
This would be better suited to the question board, since you’re looking for a specific answer. However, they began the wall building "competition" because each felt the other’s wall was more...
Ray Bradbury
How are the themes of "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "The Veldt" similar? What are some examples to prove it?
While "The Veldt" is a critique on neglectful parenting, the reason for the neglect is caused by an unhealthy reliance on technology. The general theme of the danger of technology is illustrated in...
Ray Bradbury
Compare and contrast "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury.
In both "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "The Veldt," families have built homes that are meant to cater to their every want and need, and neither home functions in the way that it was meant to do....
Ray Bradbury
Why did Ray Bradbury write?
Bradbury's motivation to write was driven by his imagination. As a child, Bradbury was an avid reader, devouring works by Wolfe and Hemingway. This helped to drive his fascination towards the...
Ray Bradbury
What is the crises in "Utterly Perfect Murder", written by Ray Bradbury?
I am not sure I have a completely clear idea of what you mean by "crisis," but I'll see what I can do. There are two possible definitions for "crisis" that could apply to this story: an unstable...
Ray Bradbury
In The Visitor by Ray Bradbury, how is the human experience of the attempted "eradication" of "the Other" explored,...
The attempted eradication of the "other" is explored in two ways in Bradbury's The Visitor. First, people, all male, who have blood rust in the lungs, a communicable disease, are quarantined on...
Ray Bradbury
I read "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" for lit class. I have to find literal and thematic connections to his poem...
Thematic connections are connections in meaning between the poem and the short story. What common message do both convey? This message is summed in the lines of the poem below: And not one will...
Ray Bradbury
How does bullying affect people in Ray Bradbury's short stories?
I think that part of Bradbury's genius is that he writes stories that might be set in a future or distant land, but the realities of bullying and intimidation are inescapable even in these...
Ray Bradbury
What is a theme that appears often in Ray Bradbury's work? I am reading the short stories "The Garbage Collector,"...
While many of Bradbury's short stories discuss the negative consequences of technology upon American families, the three stories that you have read possess a different set of similarities. Below...
Ray Bradbury
What is the cultural significance of Ray Bradbury's work?
When Ray Bradbury died in 2012, President Barack Obama released a statement that praised Bradbury's contribution to society. Obama specifically mentions that Bradbury had a "gift for...
Ray Bradbury
I have to write a short story in "Bradbury" style, what are some styles he uses?
Ray Bradbury is an important author in science fiction. According to the eNotes site, he was one of the first authors to employ a cerebral, elevated writing style—rather than the more common...
Ray Bradbury
Questions about Dystopia: Please answer the followings questions about Bradbury’s “The Veldt”: 1. What makes this...
1. "The Veldt" is dystopian in that the technology that is supposed to bring the Hadley family happiness only brings them misery and, for the parents, death. The world is different from our own in...
Ray Bradbury
I am doing a research paper about Ray Bradbury and I'm trying to develop a research question. The three questions I...
You have a great start to your research question! Let's try to hone this question a bit more and consider the things you want to research (and ultimately produce an answer for). Your listed...
Ray Bradbury
What are the differences between the Ray Bradbury stories "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "The Veldt"?
In both these Bradbury stories, technology has run out of control so that humans are no longer running their own lives. The chief difference, however, is while in "There Will Come Soft Rains"...
Ray Bradbury
What are your views on Ray Bradbury? Ray Bradbury believes that society is becoming more like the society in...
Well, TVs are certainly growing larger. They're not wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling yet, but we're getting there. Of more concern and reflective of the novel is the fact that we are more and more...
Ray Bradbury
How does Ray Bradbury's choice of symbols give deeper meaning to his short stories?
Ray Bradbury is an ace at using descriptive settings to create suspense and to enhance action leading up to a crisis moment. In a way setting is often used as a symbol itself. Some good examples...
Ray Bradbury
"Certain knowledge should be suppressed for good of majority." Given that Bradbury lived in 21 century, what is the...
I can only answer one of the two questions presented, so I will address whether or not the quote provided is a theme of the story. Knowing Bradbury's work as I do, I cannot imagine that he would...
Ray Bradbury
What type of plot development or plot diagram ("chain", " a fork", "ring"...) is used in the story "The Golden Kite,...
I must admit as to being unsure precisely what you are referring to in terms of the different plot diagrams that you mention. However, I wonder if the "chain" that you refer to could indicate a...
Ray Bradbury
Our theatre group Gallimaufry is currently running Ray Bradbury's long ago written musical "2116" originally written...
Totally true about the great, "There Will Come Soft Rains." Aren’t we getting closer and closer to the Ray Bradbury story, "The Veldt?" You know one with the parents, kids, nursery scenes, and etc?
Ray Bradbury
Why can we not create a time machine so we can go back in time? I saw that we have the parts but why can't we make it?
There are many theories on time travel and if it is possible. The prevailing thought on the matter is that it is not possible to travel backward in time. We know through Einstein's special theory...
Ray Bradbury
How can Ray Bradbury's reason for writing be summed up in a one sentenced "because" statement?
Going to the source might help here. When Ray Bradbury was asked in an interview as to his motivation in writing, he offered an insightful answer that can explain much: I had decided to be a...
Ray Bradbury
How does Bradbury's choice of genre affect the theme or topic?
Ray Bradbury chooses to write, mostly, in the science fiction genre. By doing this, he is able to make commentary about how scientific and technological advancements can or have affected the human...