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Ray BradburyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
“January 1999: Rocket Summer”
“February 1999: Ylla”
“August 1999: The Summer Night”
“August 1999: The Earth Men”
“March 2000: The Taxpayer”
“April 2000: The Third Expedition”
“June 2001: —And the Moon Be Still as Bright”
“August 2001: The Settlers”
“December 2001: The Green Morning”
“February 2002: The Locusts”
“August 2002: Night Meeting”
“October 2002: The Shore”
“February 2003: Interim”
“April 2003: The Musicians”
“June 2003: Way in the Middle Air”
“2004-2005: The Naming of Names”
“April 2005: Usher II”
“August 2005: The Old Ones”
“September 2005: The Martian”
“November 2005: The Luggage Store”
“November 2005: The Off Season”
“November 2005: The Watchers”
“December 2005: The Silent Towns”
“April 2026: The Long Years”
“August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains”
“October 2026: The Million-Year Picnic”
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
In the devastated Earth city of Allendale, California, a mechanized house performs its regular tasks at the scheduled time. The house, however, contains no people. Breakfast for four is prepared and served in the kitchen, and after some time, it is swept into a waiting disposal; garage doors open for a determined span and then close; daily announcements are made to empty rooms. It is the last house standing in a city “of rubble and ashes” (222), otherwise annihilated by atomic war.
On a fire-blasted wall outside, the house bears evidence of its former occupants, the McClellan family. The silhouettes of the people, who bore the brunt of the blast, depict their final moment of life. The father is mowing the lawn, the mother gardening, and the brother and sister tossing a ball to one another; each caught unaware by the nuclear explosion.
The house protects itself from outside intruders like foxes and cats, “in an old-maidenly preoccupation with self-protection which bordered on a mechanical paranoia” (222-23), while inside dozens of tiny robotic mice keep the house clean in a labor compared to “the ritual of religion” (223). When a former pet dog attempts to enter, the house permits it inside.
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