Would like to chat with someone who is familiar with this short story to better understand the use of imagery, symbolism, irony and other elements of writing

I'd say chat away.

Initially, I'd say that to really look at this story, you need to read two classic Edgar Allan Poe stories that deal with related themes. Bradbury has frequently cited Poe as one of his favorite writers and it would be unreasonable to assume he was not familiar with these stories.

"The Cast of Amontillado". This story deals with the idea of a carefully orchestrated revenge scenario resulting in the death of the targetted victim.

"The Premature Buriel". This story deals (obviously) with the idea of being buried alive. In setting up the story, Poe states: "To be buried alive, is, beyond question, the most terrific of these extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality. That it has frequently, very frequently, so fallen, will scarcely be denied by those who think. The boundaries which divide Life from Death, are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?"

My own view is that this story is one of the simplest of Bradbury's stories. It is quite simply a revenge story involving two brothers who hate and resent each other. The elder brother, Charles, is successful at everything he has ever tried, and ends up supporting his younger brother, Richard, who has never been successful at anything. Charles resents having to subsidize Richard's rather frivolous lifestyle, and Richard resents being dependent on Charles and the fact that Charles regularly points out that dependence.

As is the case with unresolved resentment, hatred and anger replace compromise and reason.

Charles, getting very close to his death, begins an invention which he will not explain to Richard, who is hoping to cash in on it after Charles's death. Charles works frenetically to build a coffin. As he concludes the coffin, he passes away, never having explained to Richard what it is.

Richard, very non-chalant about his brother's death, sets up someone to come check on him, then climbs into the coffin. It slams shut, plays music, then numbs him, drains his blood and replaces it with formaldahyde. With that, the coffin rolls itself outside and, with the use of automated spades, digs a hole under the coffin, then buries itself by pulling dirt down over the top.

Again, I see this as a rather simple revenge story. I think the most productive way of getting deeper into it is to read the two Poe stories and then do a kind of compare and contrast between the two.

For example, in "The Premature Buriel" Poe plays up the ambiguous nature of the line between death and life. In "The Coffin" there is no ambiguity on this subject. Charles has no question about those boundaries (as he draws out all the blood), and Richard seems to eventually understand that this coffin is designed to cause his death.

In "The Cask of Amontillado" the subject is made drunk (as Richard is numbed up inside the coffin) so as to diminish his ability to resist. In "The Coffin" the buriel chamber is completed prior to the execution of the victim, where in "The Cask of Amantillado" the buriel chamber is built right in the eyes of the victim. In both stories, the victim is unable to resist his death, yet is intentionally put in circumstances to know of his impending death, and to know that the cause.

Hope this provides some assistance.

Dear M. Dark, Thank you for your insightful analysis, and I appreciate your kindness in repyling to my request.

No problem. In the case of Bradbury's work, I love being put in the spot of having to go back and re-read his stuff to get into it again. Also, I love reading other's questions and answers and going to the story myself, just to see what the discussion is about.

I'm blessed with a terrible memory. It allows me to come fresh to stories and films I once appreciated and now get to experience anew.