The title of Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" is borrowed from Sara Teasdale's poem of the same name. In both the poem and the story, rain symbolizes the way nature goes about its business, indifferent to what human beings want. The soft rains represent nature's quiet power and persistence, both of which will win out against human bluster in devising ever bigger and more destructive technology.

In the story, human civilization has destroyed itself through a nuclear war. A last, technologically sophisticated house has been left standing. It goes mindlessly through its activities, even though they have no purpose any longer, as the family the house once served is now dead.

As the story shows, nature is indifferent to the lack of humans. It is raining when the story opens, a rain that falls whether this is beneficial to humans or not. At the end of the story, when high winds and falling tree branches cause the house to catch on fire, the house could use a rainstorm to put the fire out, but no rain is forthcoming in time. The bits of water in the house's sprinkler system are inadequate to stopping the flames.

Bradbury shows nature doing what it wants, illustrating that despite human pretensions, nature is more powerful than humankind. We cannot expect it to conform to us.

What is the message of "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

Ray Bradbury was often accused of being a Luddite, that is to say, someone with a knee-jerk hatred of new technology. Ample evidence in support of this argument would appear to be provided by his short story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” which deals with the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust.

It's notable in this regard that none of the technology dealt with in the story is something to which we can easily relate. Without anyone to cater for, the automated house is cold and soulless. And of course, the nuclear weapons that brought about the destruction of humankind instinctively make us shudder.

Even so, one could argue that the charge of Luddite against Bradbury is unfair. In “There Will Come Soft Rains,” as elsewhere in his science fiction, he's not railing against technology per se but rather how it is used. The story presents technology as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can make our lives easier. On the other, it can end our lives altogether. It all depends on how technology is used and what its original purpose is.

The ironic nature of technology is nicely illustrated by the fact that the automated house which, among other things, was designed to protect its human inhabitants from the dangers of nature was ultimately unable to protect humans from themselves. This was because the real danger lay not in the animal predators lurking outside but within the deepest, darkest recesses of the human heart, with its endless capacity to think up new ways to destroy the world.

What is an example of a metaphor in the story "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

The house is compared to an altar, and the house itself is a metaphor for the dangers of over-relying on technology.

A metaphor is a common type of figurative language where something is referred to as something it is not.  Unlike a simile, a metaphor does not compare something to something else by saying it is like something else.  Metaphors say that something is something else.

This story describes a house that is the last house standing after a seriously devastating event, such as a nuclear holocaust.  The house is fully automated, and continues operating as if there were people inside it long after the people are dead.  Eventually, the house is destroyed in a fire it is unable to put out.

There are many similes in the story, but metaphor is also used to describe the house.

The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing, attending, in choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly.

This is a specific metaphor.  In this case, the house is compared to an altar.  An altar is a place of worship.  The metaphor compares that robots in the house to worshippers.  They are personified throughout, as if they were alive.  In this case, they are worshipping the house because it is their purpose.

The house itself is also a metaphor in a larger sense.  It is a metaphor for the destructive nature of technology.  Even though the family is dead, the house continues without them.  It was a more serious technology that destroyed all of the other houses and killed the people, but the idea is the same.  Too much technological advancement is dangerous.

At ten o'clock the house began to die. The wind blew. A failing tree bough crashed through the kitchen window. Cleaning solvent, bottled, shattered over the stove. The room was ablaze in an instant!

Just as the entire rest of the world was destroyed in a nuclear event, the house was destroyed in a fire.  Despite all of its technological advancement, the house could not save itself.  Bradbury is trying to warn us that we should not rely too much on technology.

What is an example of a simile in the short story "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

In this story, a house goes on functioning for awile and then "dies" in a fire after all the human inhabitants are killed in a nuclear war. Similes likening the house to nature, magic and children contrast ironically with the horrors wrought by technology. As if they are natural, the robot mice who clean the empty house, "like mysterious invaders" pop back into their "burrows" when they are done, as if they don't want to intrude on human space. There's an irony in the invaders simile, because there's nothing left to invade now that everyone has been killed. These same mice are again described in natural terms as they go about their scheduled tasks with no reason left to do so, as soft and quiet "as blown gray leaves." The card tables fold "like great butterflies" at the appointed time, though nobody has played cards. The dinner dishes are "manipulated like magic tricks" by the mechanized house.  

As the house burns at the end, mirrors snap "like the brittle winter ice." As the fire intensifies, the mechanical voices of the house are likened to "a tragic nursery rhyme" and "children dying in a forest," although there is no longer anything human left. We end on a note of sadness. With just one wall left, the house repeats the date mindlessly, no one there to care. 

What is an example of a simile in the short story "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

There are many examples of figurative language in “There Will Come Soft Rains.”  The story is post-apocalyptic, and there is no one in the house.  In order to show the reader the devastation that has occurred in the house, the writer uses figurative language such as similes to indicate no one is alive.  For example, he says: “At eight-thirty the eggs were shriveled and the toast was like stone.”  The toast is compared to stone, letting us know that no one has touched it and it has hardened.

Some of the similes used are happy images in direct contrast with the idea the reader has that something is very wrong.  For example:  “and the murmur of a fresh jungle rain, like other hoofs, falling upon the summer-starched grass.”  The rain here is being compared to the sound of an animal’s hoofs, and it occurs in the nursery, where there are many happy images, but no sign of life.

Another simile occurs when the author is describing the furnace: “of an incinerator which sat like evil Baal in a dark corner.”  This is a particularly strong example because it alludes to Baal, who is an evil king in hell.  This contributes to the suspense of the story by giving the reader an uneasy feeling.

What is the metaphor in the story "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

The author describes the house and its technological functions in terms of being "alive." This is an example of personification. However, given that metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to describe one thing as if it is the same as another unrelated thing, we can say that the house (and/or the advanced technology that it makes use of) is a metaphor for living beings. The irony then is that, of course, the house and its machines are not alive. Bradbury uses this irony to show a stark future when humans have allowed technology to take over their lives. While technology can offer convenience and comfort to human lives, it can become so active (and humans so passive) that it becomes more alive while humans, continuing to do less and less for themselves, become more dead, so to speak. (Conversely, had humans been in they story, they may have been described as metaphors for machines.) 

In the story, humans have used another type of technology (atomic weapons) to destroy themselves, making them literally dead. And this leaves only the scarred remains of the house and other seemingly "alive" machines. This is an interesting use of metaphor and personification wherein the house (a non-living thing) is described as living but only to show how it is, in fact, not living. In this sense, it is a kind of metafiction: a metaphor that calls attention to the fact that it is not true. As the house is dying, it is dramatic but also unbelievable in the ways that the voices call out to the humans to escape; thus revealing that the house is unaware that the humans are gone. The house is unconscious, just a machine: 

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 voices died. 

What is the meaning behind "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

To some extent, the answer to this question will vary slightly depending on if the question is asking about the poem by Sara Teasdale or the short story written by Ray Bradbury. Conveniently, the short story includes Teasdale's poem because the story does a wonderful job of further expanding the imagery set forth in the poem.

The poem has a strong emphasis on nature not caring whether mankind is around. Nature will simply keep being what it is and doing what it does:

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,

Would scarcely know that we were gone.

The short story gives readers the same kind vibe and message, but there is a slight twist. The twist is that the house in the story goes about its business in the exact same way that it always has done its business. It makes breakfast for people that aren't there and reads to people that aren't able to listen. It doesn't know that the people are gone, an idea which echoes throughout Teasdale's poem. Whether it's nature or our inventions, neither will notice our absence. I would like to point out that Bradbury's story ends with the house being consumed by natural forces. As with Teasdale's poem, nature ends up "winning" in the battle for existence.

What is the meaning behind "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

"There Will Come Soft Rains" is a poem by Sara Teasdale first published in 1920, in the immediate aftermath of the first world war. The poem expresses an apocalyptic vision of war and the possibility that the human race will annihilate itself in a tsunami of global conflict. In the wake of the development of the atom bomb, the poem was regarded as prescient, foreshadowing the possibility that humanity would develop the means to completely annihilate itself.

In Teasdale's vision, the destructiveness of humanity is contrasted with the beauty of the nature that would reclaim the world after the disappearance of humanity. The "soft rains" of the title would wash away the detritus of war and human activity and what would remain would be "swallows circling with their shimmering sound," frogs singing at night, wild plum trees with white flowers, and robins heralding a new spring. Teasdale portrays the indifference of nature to the loss of humanity in the final couplet:

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,

Would scarcely know that we were gone.

What is an example of symbolism in "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

An important symbol in Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” is the dog that enters the house. The dog is described as once being “huge and fleshy,” but now after the nuclear disaster it is “gone to bone and covered with sores.” The dog excitedly runs upstairs and searches for its owners. This action symbolizes the strong emotional bonds humans have with domesticated animals and, in particular, the sense of loyalty dogs have for humans and vice versa.

The dog is clearly hungry, and the house clearly has the ability to feed it. But the house cleans up all the food it makes because it is programmed to follow a strict routine that it cannot break. This symbolizes that while technology can be useful, it can never completely replace human action because it is void of emotion and compassion. Yes, the house can let the dog in by recognizing its voice, but it cannot express real loyalty or love to the animal.

The dog soon starts frothing at the mouth and running in wild circles until it collapses and dies. It is implied that the dog died from radiation poisoning. The house soon disposes of the body, which further emphasizes technology’s lack of respect and emotion. As the one living character in the story, the dog’s behavior sharply contrasts the automated behavior of everything else in the house. The contrast draws attention to how different technology is from humanity, even if it can perform the same functions.

What is the theme of "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

One of the themes of the story is the fundamentally inhuman nature of technology. The automated house was originally built to cater for the family's every need. Yet in the wake of a nuclear apocalypse it still goes on, performing its functions despite the complete absence of any humans. On this reading, technology has a life of its own; though created by humans, it is able to operate without them.

This presents us with the scary picture, familiar from countless sci-fi stories and films, of technology as a kind of Frankenstein's monster, that eventually ends up dominating and controlling human life. Such power, as displayed by the automated house, was doubtless much in evidence before the nuclear explosion, but it is even more so now that humanity has been wiped out.

What is the title telling us in the short story "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

The title of Ray Bradbury’s story refers to the natural environment, which would continue to exist even if all members of the human species were to perish. The author shows how a house and the area around it may function without humans being present. Bradbury took the title from a 1918 poem by Sara Teasdale, which he includes in the story. She addressed the continuity of nature that would follow World War I. The devastation that Bradbury describes is suggestive of the aftermath of a nuclear war.

The use of “rains” to stand for all environmental phenomena is the literary device of synecdoche, in which a part stands for the whole. Bradbury’s story is primarily about an empty house that continues to function even though there are no humans living in it. The house contains numerous technological devices which would have been understood as futuristic when the story was written. Many of these machines are malfunctioning because no one is available to program them, or their output is wasted because no one is consuming it. The only traces of people are silhouettes of the home’s former residents, appearing as white paint burnt into a blackened exterior wall. When a fire starts, the house cannot save itself.

Teasdale’s poem specifically mentions war, and includes these lines:

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree

If mankind perished utterly.

If all humans were gone, no one would be available to remember those who had died. In Bradbury’s narrative, nuclear war is suggested by the “radioactive glow” emitted by “the ruined city” around the house. His story, like her poem, cautions humans to be careful and to try not to cause our own extinction.