A Convenient Society One can unknowingly suffer for the sake of society’s convenience. Both authors, Ray Bradbury and Ursula Le Guin, demonstrate the suffering that the protagonist endures in order to serve their society. A variety of rhetorical strategies and modes contribute to the overall role of the protagonists. Ray Bradbury uses personification and the rhetorical mode of pathos to convey the oblivious suffering that the protagonist, the “smart house”, undergoes. Ursula Le Guin utilizes diction and the rhetorical mode of pathos to demonstrate the society’s dependency on the life of a young, hopeless boy. Through the authors’ use of diction, personification, and the rhetorical mode of pathos, readers can view both short stories in a new criticism lense and juxtapose two societies that feature a suffering aspect in each story. In Ray Bradbury’s short story, “ August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains”, the protagonist is the only house left standing in Allendale, California after a nuclear explosion. However, the protagonist is not an average house. The house is technologically programmed to carry out all of the tasks and duties of an ordinary family. Although the family that lived in the house before the explosion are no longer present, the house carries out its scheduled routine. At the beginning of the story, Bradbury explains that “memory tapes glided” and chimed out the passing time while “no doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber heels”. The house has become abandoned, yet, it continues to exercise its daily functions. Ray Bradbury also gives life to the house in a way that it seems to be a human. “The weather box on the front door sang quietly: “rain, rain, go away; rubbers, raincoats for today…”” is a prime example of the way Bradbury brings life to the empty house. Another example of personification that Bradbury uses in his short story is, “It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window, the shade snapped up.” The house is depicted to have a mind of its own. In August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains, the house continues to function even though the family and residents of the town has suffered from the nuclear explosion. In Ray Bradbury’s “August 2026:
Though the newly developed technology has innumerable advantageous and has brought human civilization thus far, human’s reliance of this technology will bring upon their demise. The warning is enhanced as the author uses personification to bring life to the remaining lifeless objects after the perishing of humans, creating a sense of emptiness. Furthermore, throughout the account,the author symbolized the previous inhabitants of the house and humans as “the gods (that) had gone away”. Furthermore, Bradbury compares the house’s service to its habitants as a “ritual”. Yet, the absence of the humans rendered the “ritual” (the house's service and purpose) “senseless” and “useless”. For instance, when the house announced “‘Today is August 4, 2026,’ ”, “No doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber heels” (Bradbury 1). (ADD THREE SENTENCES)The author’s warning about technology can be further be implied today, as the conundrum has only worsened throughout the years. Hence his warning is only becoming more
In “The Left Hand of Darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin, we have a world like no other. The reader gets the picture of this first hand from the writer herself in her introduction. She prepares us for a world that not only expands our imagination, but that of our religious and social beliefs themselves with an androgynous world with no war. This world is cold and has its own political as well as natural dangers in of itself.
Damon Knight’s “The Country of the Kind” follows a narrator who the audience at first knows little about, who lives in a society that is different from the norm, but is also initially left ambiguous. This sense of the unknown exists up until the narrator stumbles upon a pamphlet which opens up new viewpoints to the reader. The pamphlet serves to create three new perspectives in particular, all of which significantly shift the reader’s understanding of the story. First, it gives the reader a chance to understand the narrator and sympathize with him. Second, it offers a new perspective on society and their overall conception of what defines a utopia. The third and final perspective is that of the people who live within this society, and their interactions with the main characters. These three new perspectives prove to be formative in understanding the main character, his interactions with other characters in the story, and the role of society.
The House’s High technology makes it possible to function without people actually living in there. As Bradbury states, “The clock ticked on, repeating and repeating its sounds into emptiness” (Bradbury 1). That quote shows the house will still do it's everyday routine even if people do not live there. In summary, The Houses high technology would be helpful if people lived there; but without people it’s useless.
In “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin, the informally-speaking narrator depicts a cookie-cutter utopia with perpetually happy citizens that sing and dance in the music-filled streets during the Festival of Summer. However, under one of the beautiful public buildings lays a child, no older than ten years-old, who lays in its own excrement. Although the citizens know the emancipated child is there, they refuse to act upon the child’s suffering, for their happiness depends entirely on the child’s abominable misery. Through ethos, the narrator illustrates this utopian society with a casual tone and frequently asks the audience for their input. Le Guin’s fairy-tale introduction of the story establishes her credibility through her extensive knowledge and understanding of the people of Omelas. Le Guin utilizes logos through the narrator’s second person point of view which incites the audience to draw their own conclusions about the city of Omelas and question their own justifications of the child’s existence. The concept of the happiness of many relying on the necessary suffering of one forces the reader to question their own morals and their justifications for the child’s physical and mental condition. Through ethos, logos, and pathos, Le Guin presents the contrast and divide between the citizens of Omelas and the child in the cellar in order to challenge the reader’s capacity for moral self-conception.
There are many styles of writing authors use to captivate their readers. One style in particular is the epistolary style. The epistolary style of writing seduces its readers by using the character’s documents or letters to tell a story. Ursula K. Le Guin wrote the book The Left Hand of Darkness using the epistolary writing style, in return he captures his readers by making them feel the experience one would have if they lived on the planet Winter and understand the planet’s history. The story is told by Genly Ai, a person from earth who is sent to Winter to study their forbidding, ice-bound world.
The author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, was born on August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois. Throughout his life Bradbury was married to Marguerite McClure and had four children with her, Susan Nixon, Ramona Ostergren, Bettina Karapetian and Alexandra BradBury. Bradbury graduated from high school in 1938, during the great depression, therefore did not have the funds to attend college. According to www.Biography.com/people/ray-bradbury, Bradbury stated, ‘“[i] couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three times a week for 10 years’” (“Ray”). He became a very successful and well respected writer, according to his website, http://www.Raybradbury.com/, “In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury has inspired generations
By analyzing Fahrenheit 451 it is evident how Bradbury has created an example of the Capitalist society, focused on material possessions and entertainment through which the invisible bourgeoisie class, represented only through the faceless 'Government' are able to maintain power and control and oppress the proletariat through a variety of control structures both overt and subtle. The power and control of the bourgeoisie in Fahrenheit 451 is so absolute that the greater majority of people are ‘numbed’ to reality and live in the illusion that they are content. This control is achieved through the inundation of mass media, which creates a consumerist mindset focused solely in the acquisition of material possessions and distracts the people through
The author uses personification, irony and simile to explain that without humans alive on earth, it is harder to control technology and may lead to disaster. Ray Bradbury uses personification to emphasise the fragility and protectiveness of the house. Outside, the house is trying to stay away from anything that could be harmful, “ ‘It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window,
Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 presents readers with multiple themes. In the novel Bradbury conveys message through strong use of literacy devices. In the fictional society of Fahrenheit 451 books are banned. In the society of Fahrenheit 451 firemen create fires instead of putting them out. Bradbury portrays the society as dystopian; Although Bradbury never directly states, he implies great disdain for a society like Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury crafted the novel to be interpreted intellectually. The characters claim to be happy. However, the reader can conclude otherwise. Bradbury creates a question for the reader to decipher. Is ignorance bliss? Or, does the ability to think for oneself create happiness? Throughout the novel Bradbury entices the reader to interpret his writing on a deeper level. Contrary to Bradbury’s illustration of an unintellectual society, Bradbury’s themes require in-depth interpretation of the novel. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury conveys the stories’ themes through characterization and symbolism.
In the book, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury mentions a lot about TV replacing books. Ray’s predictions were correct about technology taking over books. Most people read online now on their kindles, iPads, iPhones, laptops, or a device that connects to the internet. Even at our school we use audio books. Mr. Bradbury was right to fear the replacement of books with technology. More and more kids are finding less interest in reading. With the growth of technology, kids are finding this more important and procrastinate on assignment, such as reading. There is pros and cons to technology and the replacement of books is most likely the worst. Reading is not appropriately valued in today's society anymore. People do not care to read anymore they
Throughout Ray Bradbury’s work, the common topic appears to be technology and its negatives, warning of how it is slowly and silently consuming the lives of many. Thusly, the mood mustn’t be joyful or encouraging, but rather eerie, mysterious, and unsettling; otherwise, the story’s effect would be tarnished and mismatched. Therefore, one of the most important things writers must take into consideration is how this mood will be communicated subtly throughout the story, as one cannot just state that something is sad or happy, for this would not fully engross the reader. Rather, one of the main ways authors tend to enforce the mood and tone of the story is through diction, one of the main reasons Bradbury’s pieces, such as “The Veldt” or “Marionettes,
It takes place in the not-too-distant future after a nuclear blast leaves the surrounding city with a “radioactive glow which could be seen for miles” (323). Mankind has finally destroyed itself. What follows is a description of the daily chores an automated house performs for the humans that used to inhabit it. It makes breakfast, vacuums, and attempts to care for children, all without noticing that there is no one left to care for. With no one else to focus on, the house becomes a surrogate protagonist. Its daily tasks remind the reader of the minutiae that shape the human experience. This is where I believe the author’s main idea begins to show. Because the house was built to cater to humans, the remaining shreds of humanity are seen through the eyes of the program that keeps the whole thing running. To it, humanity is eating toast, reading poems, and playing cards. The harsher reality shows that humanity is something much, much
The audience is made to feel sympathy in Irwin Winkler’s Life as a house and Ray Bradbury’s The Scythe. They make you feel sympathy for the lack of control the main characters have in the stories. The authors make you feel sympathy by using foreshadowing, symbolism, humour and irony. In both stories the main characters lack control over death.
American writer, Ursula K. Le Guin, in her science fiction book, The Left Hand of Darkness, touches on the subject of genders, specifically on their differences. By doing so, Le Guin tries to answer the question of what is a woman? Or what makes a woman. The main character in her book, Genly Ai, is a male human that visits another planet called Winter, where genders are constantly being changed through a process called Kemmer. Ai finds it difficult to adapt to their society, being so different from ours. However, to solve this confusion, Genly beings to describe the differences between women and men. Le Guin uses this strategy of describing both genders to try to get the reader to understand the differences between them, in other words, it is another way to try to answer the question of what is a woman. Although she able to describe the differences between a male and female, Le Guin fails to completely answer the question of what is a woman by focusing instead on the differences and inequalities between the two sexes, male and female.