So, I got this assignment I have to do on Ray Bradbury, and I'm sort of new to his stuff. I choose the Illustrated Man, and i was wondering if any of remember anything that connects with its date of publishing (so what may have inspired Bradbury) that would be great. I choose the Other Foot, the Man, the Visitor, Kaleidoscope, zero hour, and the long rain, as the short stories i will assess. If anyone recalls anything of these stories, plz comment. Thanks!

atroposmar, you might want to look at the publication dates of the individual stories, since most of them were published separately long before they were collected into the book called The Illustrated Man.

You can look up the stories in the Short Story Finder on my website to find their original publication dates. You could then look up the years in Wikipedia to give an idea of what else was happening in the world.

Ray Bradbury uses metaphors in much of his writing. You might look for metaphors in those stories, and write about how each metaphor contributes to the overall effect of the story.

Thanks everyone... I got a few questions towards Zero Hour if someone could plz help...Is the mother the tragic hero whereas Mink is the ironic hero? Do the things that the children are builidng mean anything at all? What is zero hour? Is it suppose to be when ht einvasion is, but then what is up with the yo-yo. For me I like the story, but I believe it is not the best written, but perhaps I'm just misinterpreting imagery or dialogue. Can someone help plz...anyways thanks!

Say atroposmar, is this the story where the kids are all huddled around a flower bed intently working on something? I remember watching that on the Ray Bradbury Theatre and am wondering if Zero Hour is, indeed, about that story of the children not wanting the older ones knowing what they were doing.

Yes, biplane1...this about the children that are supposily playing a game called Invasion, which ends up being an alien races plan to invade Earth. I don't think it's a matter of not wanting them to know what is going, but because they do not believe in it. The thing about what they are working on confuses me...what is it?

I don't believe the story ever really tells what it is they're building, but I'm guessing it is either a portal or doomsday device (I lean toward a portal). I'm looking at it now. It is a portal It says Drill is stuck halfway, and they need to get him through so the others can get through.

They tell their parents it's a game called "Invasion". They are evasive, in part because they are afraid the parents won't take them seriously. Mink tells her mom it's an invasion from another planet, and refuses to give any details about "Drill". The new person.

Mink does give some details of the strategy--where you have to try a new approach and you have to get help from the enemy, etc. Quite a few details are given. Enough to make the mom suspicious.

Mink talks about what order people will be killed in, talks about her possible role in the new order (queen of the block). The strategy is to go through the children because they will believe and obey; and the invadors are counting on the adults not to take what the children are doing seriously.

Mink's mom finally figures it out, but it's too late. The invasion has begun.

Love this story.

Ok, thanks a lot, but the whole portal thing seems pretty absurd to me. So, the part when they are writing down things like triangle and beam mean't nothing? Anyways, could you please anwser the questions I asked..It would be very appreciated.

To answer the question of whether Mink or the mother is the real or ironic hero would depend on what you define hero to be. Bradbury does not worry much about technical stuff. I'm pretty sure the thing they're constructing is a portal--I think the points I cited make that pretty clear. I'm not sure the yo-yo "means" anything. I think it's a technique Bradbury is using to show that the kids are doing something that transcends what kids do.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Dark:
To answer the question of whether Mink or the mother is the real or ironic hero would depend on what you define hero to be. Bradbury does not worry much about technical stuff. I'm pretty sure the thing they're constructing is a portal--I think the points I cited make that pretty clear. I'm not sure the yo-yo "means" anything. I think it's a technique Bradbury is using to show that the kids are doing something that transcends what kids do.

Ya, I thought the same thing until re-read in in found that it stated that it could only be performed at zero hour, and the parent being unable to work the yo-yo further solidifies that something magical must be happening around that time...I just can't see how Bradbury would state such things without having a purpose.

Man, I have to dig out the old DVD set and watch Zero Hour again. Thanks for the input Mr. Dark, et. al.

I think the purpose of the yo-yo is to show that it is not a kid's game and that something "real" is going on. I think that is the sole purpose of the yo-yo. As to it only occuring at zero hour, perhaps the technology is complex--even for an advanced species. We just watched as they had to put off the Shuttle launch on account of some wind. Maybe the functionality of the portal is partly contingent on conditions in the universe that impact the portal?

Thanks again...it makes sense to me, but then why do they invade at zero hour because it gives the impression that zero hour is the moment when the martians will attack, but then why does it state that the yo-yo only works at zero hour. I would have wrote it off as unimportant (a creation of the alien species) had it not been so emphasized. Perhaps, it is powered by the children's imagination? But once again, the idea of that it only works at zero hour...maybe i'm just reading into this too much. But there must be a reason for both the yo-yo and the things the children construct or why else write them in. Anyways, thanks for the input you've been really helpful.