My in class eassy (assignment) is to discuss and interpret the intertextuallity from Bradbury's fictions, 'The Pedestrian' and 'There will come soft rains'. I've finished analysing 'There Will Come soft rains' and have yet to read and analyse 'The Pedestrain'. Can anyone help me find any information?

Do you guys agree with my main points (below) for, 'There Will Come Soft Rains'? 1)The more invention we invent the less we rely on god 2) Humans don't need to think for themselves 3) All the robots would last longer then we would 4) Technology is 'not good' - cause nature destroys it 5) Without humans their jobs are pointless 6) Human's need for perfection, technology, is the downfall of society 7) Technology is evil - robot mice incernerating the dog 8)Human's are trying to play 'god' by creating Technology, who acts and does things like humans

I am quite a 'blur' when it comes to intertextuality, do I talk about similarities in the construction of the text or the values & attitudes of the texts? Any kind of help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Sp33d,

many people post here asking for help with essays, but they rarely come with any ideas of their own. You, however, have come up with seven discussion points from the one story. Well done - it's a great start!

I don't have a response for all of your points, but here are a few thoughts:

I would disagree with your fourth point, at least as evidenced in There Will Come Soft Rains. The survival of the house and its machines, after all biological life has perished, arguably indicates that technologies can withstand things that we can't.

I think this is a major point from the story that you haven't pointed up. To me, the poignancy of the story is that our servants, the machines, carry on doing exactly what we programmed them to do, long after there is any need to do it. And those deeds seems so trivial "now".

I would also question your seventh point. I don't see the robot mice as evil. They are just doing what they do. The context in which they do it is changed, but they don't know anything about that.

Phil
www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Thank you!!