Setting

Time setting

The short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” written by Ray Bradbury is set in the future,: “ ‘Today is August 4, 2026’ ” (p. 1, l. 8). The events in the story take place over the course of a day, until “August 5, 2026” (p. 4, l. 38) and come after a nuclear blast: “The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing. At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.” (p. 1, ll. 24-30)

Time is very important in the story. The fact that the events are set in the future is a sci-fi genre element. The fact that the house repeats the time to the owners without knowing they are dead creates irony, while also giving a certain rhythm to the narrative.

Physical setting

The main setting of the story is the only standing house in Adelaide, California in the USA (p. 1, ll. 8-9), which is automated, similar to smart houses today. The narrative mostly presents the setting and the actions of the house: “In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and ejected from its warm interior eight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunnyside up…” (p. 1, ll. 5-6)

There are numerous descriptions of the house and the property such as: “The garden sprinklers whirled up in golden founts, filling the soft morning air with scatterings of brightness. The water pelted windowpanes, running down the charred west side where the house had been burned evenly free of its white paint” (p. 1, ll. 31-33). The burned wall was affected by the blast and still maintains the radioactive print ...