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Explanation and Analysis:
With vacuum-cleaning robotic mice and self-folding tables, “There Will Come Soft Rains” has all the hallmarks of the science fiction genre. The story imagines an apocalyptic future in the wake of nuclear war, criticizing and cautioning against an over-dependence on technology. “There Will Come Soft Rains” joins a collection of other vignette-like stories about Martian colonization, depopulating settlements, and ecological devastation. “The Martian Chronicles”—the collection in which this story features—speculatively traces a narrative of humanity’s voyage to Mars, stretching from the first rocket launch to a family picnic in the ruins of Martian colonization.
Bradbury’s writing career overlapped with that of literary futurists like George Orwell, H.G. Wells, and Isaac Asimov. His 30 novels and some 600 short stories mingle the familiar elements of dystopia and technology while incorporating romance, satire, and horror. Along with contemporary Arthur Clarke—author of 2001: A Space Odyssey—Bradbury stretched the limits of science fiction conventions and shaped much of it into the form we might recognize today.
Written in 1950, “The Martian Chronicles” also articulates many of the era’s central concerns. In America, the wave of suburban prosperity at World War II’s close coincided with intense geopolitical paranoia. As a response to nuclear testing and the start of the Cold War, Bradbury’s work explores technology, society, and the potential dangers when both forces meet.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” preceded Bradbury’s more famous Fahrenheit 451, and it seems to anticipate many of its successor’s thematic concerns. The house’s clock and mice—like Captain Beaty’s robotic fire dogs—maintain self-regulating, insuperable control over the world around them. Fire consumes Picassos and Matisses, as it does the banned books. Overrun by cultural destruction, the world in “There Will Come Soft Rains” previews a civilization (or, rather, the remains of one) that has been dehumanized by technology.
Bradbury himself considered “The Martian Chronicles” a work of fantasy, and “There Will Come Soft Rains” bears this out. The McClellans' house is so technologically advanced that the story verges on the realm of magic. With its self-lighting cigars and automated stoves, the deserted house may just as easily resemble something out of a fantasy novel. Bradbury’s story pushes human technology until it is barely distinguishable from wizardry. Through its troubling absurdities, it illuminates the consequences of mismanaged technology.
