Summary
The story takes place on the planet Venus where people have been living in underground tunnels because of the constant rain. The planet's weather is cloudy, with thunder and rain storms all of the time. Once every seven years the rain stops, the clouds part and the sun comes out for just two hours or shorter. Scientists have predicted the day the sun will come out and the story opens with school children anxiously awaiting the arrival of the sun. All of the children, with one exception, were born on Venus and were too young to remember the last time the sun came out, seven years ago. One girl named Margot was born on Earth and does remember what it was like to live on a world with plenty of sunlight. She has lived on Venus for the last five years and constantly misses the sun and the planet Earth, hoping to return there in the future.
The children make fun of Margot and do not believe her stories of life on Earth. They find her strange and decide to lock her in a closet, preventing her from playing in the sun that day. Without noticing Margot's absence the teacher lets the children run outside when the rain finally stops. They bask in the glow and warmth of the sun, they run around playing games and observing the animals that have also come out of hiding. The children were excited and happy to be enjoying the sunny weather. After a while, a few raindrops had fallen upon them and their smiles disappeared as they walked back inside to their classroom. Suddenly one of the kids remembered that Margot was still locked in the closet. Scared of getting into trouble the children were silent. Not being concerned as to why Margot was in the closet the teacher waits for one of the kids to go let her out. Margot had stopped crying and was silent by the time the door opened.
Analysis
There are several descriptions and interpretations about the sun and how people experience it. Margot's poem compares the sun to a flower in the sense that it will blossom and be beautiful. She also says that it is like a penny or a fire. The sun is also described as being a flaming bronze color. Gold, a yellow crayon, and a coin are also mentioned as being vague memories of what the sun was like for the children. These are all excellent examples of how to describe the sun to someone that has never experienced it before. It shows that people see different traits and qualities and all can be correct answers.
One of the themes of the story is represented well in the way that Venus is described. The planet's environment and atmosphere consist of constant rain and storms. This is the depression that people deal with, the sadness and darkness in our everyday lives. What Bradbury did in the story was to give people a break from that, to see the very literal light at the end of the tunnel.
For a couple of hours, the sunlight brings joy. It revitalizes the children and gives them hope and encouragement. That is a metaphor for life, there will always be rain and storms but it is the sunlight that gets us through it. This is shown through Margot who was happy living on Earth in the sun and has become saddened living on Venus in the rain. She does not get to experience that brief moment of happiness, so she remains sad and in the dark until the end of the story.
Thoughts
This story reminds me of why I would not want to live in a city like Seatle where it rains most of the year. It feels like a very depressing environment. For a girl like Margot to leave sunny Earth, presumably she didn't live in Seatle, to come to a place with no sun and constant rain would be very traumatizing. It is no wonder she comes off as a weird girl to the other children.
One thing that stood out to me is how terrible the teacher was if you couldn't tell from my summary. The teacher doesn't notice that Margot is nowhere to be seen for almost two hours! Then she is not concerned when she finds out that she's been in the closet that whole time! Now it is not a big deal, and it's just there to let the plot unfold as is, but I find it to be annoying and that woman should be fired. Or at least a little bit more worried that her student was trapped in a closet. I wonder how long it would have taken the teacher to realize Margot was missing is no one said anything?
There are many elements to this story that play out very well. First, it is a science fiction story because it takes place on another planet, that is inhabitable. However, the story does not play out like a standard sci-fi story. It is about the environments that people live in, it's about children being bullied in school, it's about the simply joy of being able to stand in the sun. As a child, I remember days that it would rain and I would be so excited when it stopped to go outside and play in the sun.
I enjoy reading this story because although it is all about the bright sun, it is rather a dark tale. The constant rain sounds depressing, the children are mean to Margot and lock her in a closet, and just when they are enjoying themselves in the sun the rain returns. If the sun represents happiness then it is sad to think that our moments of happiness are far and few in between. If the sun merely represents the hope that keeps us going, then it is sad to think that Margot was deprived of that experience. There are just a lot of levels to this story and it can be interpreted in many ways. There's nothing that is super exciting about the story, it is just an interesting look at people and society.
Thank you for reading this weeks review of "All Summer in a Day", next week I will be reviewing "Robot Nemesis" by E.E. "Doc" Smith. If anyone has any suggestions for short stories then please leave you recommendations and general thoughts in the comment section below. You can find me on Twitter @BelleArboreus and on Instagram @Fantastic_literature
The story takes place on the planet Venus where people have been living in underground tunnels because of the constant rain. The planet's weather is cloudy, with thunder and rain storms all of the time. Once every seven years the rain stops, the clouds part and the sun comes out for just two hours or shorter. Scientists have predicted the day the sun will come out and the story opens with school children anxiously awaiting the arrival of the sun. All of the children, with one exception, were born on Venus and were too young to remember the last time the sun came out, seven years ago. One girl named Margot was born on Earth and does remember what it was like to live on a world with plenty of sunlight. She has lived on Venus for the last five years and constantly misses the sun and the planet Earth, hoping to return there in the future.
The children make fun of Margot and do not believe her stories of life on Earth. They find her strange and decide to lock her in a closet, preventing her from playing in the sun that day. Without noticing Margot's absence the teacher lets the children run outside when the rain finally stops. They bask in the glow and warmth of the sun, they run around playing games and observing the animals that have also come out of hiding. The children were excited and happy to be enjoying the sunny weather. After a while, a few raindrops had fallen upon them and their smiles disappeared as they walked back inside to their classroom. Suddenly one of the kids remembered that Margot was still locked in the closet. Scared of getting into trouble the children were silent. Not being concerned as to why Margot was in the closet the teacher waits for one of the kids to go let her out. Margot had stopped crying and was silent by the time the door opened.
Analysis
There are several descriptions and interpretations about the sun and how people experience it. Margot's poem compares the sun to a flower in the sense that it will blossom and be beautiful. She also says that it is like a penny or a fire. The sun is also described as being a flaming bronze color. Gold, a yellow crayon, and a coin are also mentioned as being vague memories of what the sun was like for the children. These are all excellent examples of how to describe the sun to someone that has never experienced it before. It shows that people see different traits and qualities and all can be correct answers.
One of the themes of the story is represented well in the way that Venus is described. The planet's environment and atmosphere consist of constant rain and storms. This is the depression that people deal with, the sadness and darkness in our everyday lives. What Bradbury did in the story was to give people a break from that, to see the very literal light at the end of the tunnel.
For a couple of hours, the sunlight brings joy. It revitalizes the children and gives them hope and encouragement. That is a metaphor for life, there will always be rain and storms but it is the sunlight that gets us through it. This is shown through Margot who was happy living on Earth in the sun and has become saddened living on Venus in the rain. She does not get to experience that brief moment of happiness, so she remains sad and in the dark until the end of the story.
Thoughts
This story reminds me of why I would not want to live in a city like Seatle where it rains most of the year. It feels like a very depressing environment. For a girl like Margot to leave sunny Earth, presumably she didn't live in Seatle, to come to a place with no sun and constant rain would be very traumatizing. It is no wonder she comes off as a weird girl to the other children.
One thing that stood out to me is how terrible the teacher was if you couldn't tell from my summary. The teacher doesn't notice that Margot is nowhere to be seen for almost two hours! Then she is not concerned when she finds out that she's been in the closet that whole time! Now it is not a big deal, and it's just there to let the plot unfold as is, but I find it to be annoying and that woman should be fired. Or at least a little bit more worried that her student was trapped in a closet. I wonder how long it would have taken the teacher to realize Margot was missing is no one said anything?
There are many elements to this story that play out very well. First, it is a science fiction story because it takes place on another planet, that is inhabitable. However, the story does not play out like a standard sci-fi story. It is about the environments that people live in, it's about children being bullied in school, it's about the simply joy of being able to stand in the sun. As a child, I remember days that it would rain and I would be so excited when it stopped to go outside and play in the sun.
I enjoy reading this story because although it is all about the bright sun, it is rather a dark tale. The constant rain sounds depressing, the children are mean to Margot and lock her in a closet, and just when they are enjoying themselves in the sun the rain returns. If the sun represents happiness then it is sad to think that our moments of happiness are far and few in between. If the sun merely represents the hope that keeps us going, then it is sad to think that Margot was deprived of that experience. There are just a lot of levels to this story and it can be interpreted in many ways. There's nothing that is super exciting about the story, it is just an interesting look at people and society.
Thank you for reading this weeks review of "All Summer in a Day", next week I will be reviewing "Robot Nemesis" by E.E. "Doc" Smith. If anyone has any suggestions for short stories then please leave you recommendations and general thoughts in the comment section below. You can find me on Twitter @BelleArboreus and on Instagram @Fantastic_literature
If you like to read stories on WattPad, then you're in luck! Because I have recently posted some short stories on WattPad! Get ready for Halloween by reading my spooky/thriller inspired stories!
