Lost in the Rain

Ray Bradbury’s short story, “All Summer in a Day” starts in the middle of a day, a special day were the sun was going to come out in Venus, a place were the son comes out for an hour every 7 years. Margot was a girl that was born in Earth and had seen the sun plenty of times, she dreamed about the sun often since they moved to Venus and cant see it any more; in this world she felt excluded and she was the different girl in her class that got bullied by all. William was Margot’s classmate that bullied her the most so he said that she lied and she had never seen the sun and tried to convince her that the sun was never going to come out in Venus; Margot didn’t answer what he said so he locked her up in a closet. Some minutes after that the sum came out, and the children went outdoors to play and enjoy the feeling of the sun that they have never experienced before. When the time was over and the rain started falling again, all kids came back inside with tears after feeling the sun and knowing it will disappear for 7 more years, that’s when they noticed that Margot was still locked up in the closet and couldn’t feel the sun.

As I read the story, I realized the mood of the place these kids were living in and how Margot felt about that place,

“Now she stood, separate, staring at the rain and the loud wet world beyond the huge glass.”

I realized how Bradbury expresses Margot’s feeling when she sees that there is only rain falling outside and listen to the loud sound of rain pouring, with no hope of another weather or no expectation for the sun to come out. Margot was a very shy girl, with very happy memories living inside her, such as the sun. She dreamed often of the sun, but knew it was something hard to achieve. 

“She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair.”

This shows, that Margot used to be a confident girl when she lived in Earth, but as she moved to a different place and got new classmates, she lost everything she had and had to start all over with little success.

We can understand by reading this story the true message Ray Bradbury is trying to leave. We must always appreciate what we have because you never know what life is going to give; always respect each other’s beliefs and accept everyone as who they are by not letting envy consume you and influencing you on your actions. The use of detailed imagery and characterization makes the reader gain interest in the story as it did to me.

THE MEANINGLESS SOCIETY

Jonas is continuing to receive more memories every day and has almost been a year since he started his training. One day was declared an unscheduled holiday and Jonas rushed to go play with his friends; he couldn't wait to go play with his best friends ASHER and FIONA and as soon as he saw them he dropped his bike and went to play the game he had always played in his childhood that was based on warfare. As Jonas realized what was the real concept of this game a painful feeling came into his mind and body reminding him of the wounded soldier he saw on a memory and decided to stop playing the game confusing all of his friends. The Giver and Jonas continued the training until one day Jonas asked him about release and what happen to the previews receiver and the failure; he told him all about it and told him that her name was Rosemary and that she applied for release because she couldn't handle the pain she was receiving. Jonas wanted to know what release was so The Giver showed him the ceremony of release his father was preforming that morning were he killed the smallest of both twins and Jonas felt a lot of pain inside. That night, Jonas refused to go back to his dwelling because he was angry and hurt with his father, so he stayed the night with The Giver were they decided to create a plan for escape and leave the community were life is meaningless.

LIFE IS MEANINGLESS IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE OPTION TO CHOOSE

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain.  It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” (154)

Memories need to be shared by all. A memory is an important piece of fact that includes many knowledge and information that everyone should be able to know. Memories should be known by all so they know what their actions are and how they should feel or react towards sad or happy moments. As the Giver once told Jonas “Listen to me, Jonas. They can’t help it. They know nothing.” (153) people don’t have knowledge from memories to know what they do is right or wrong. An example would be Jonas’ father preforming the ceremony of release to the little twin by killing him, but he didn’t know what he was doing because he doesn’t have the memories to realize his actions and feel what a terrible thing he has done. Jonas community lives a life were very decision is made for them and everything is sameness.  

With all the pain and memories Jonas has received until now, he is starting to realize the terrible world he lives in and how nobody has the option to choose anything in his life. When Jonas and The Giver came up with the escape plan I thought that this is going to be a big risk for Jonas and his whole life will depend on it. Even though this will be a big risk, Jonas has enough courage, strength and knowledge from memories to survive and find out his way to Elsewhere. Since Gabriel has played a big role throughout the book, I think the Jonas and Gabe will stay together and run away together since they have so much in common such as the ability to receive and transmit memories and because Jonas loves Gabe too much to leave him behind.