What has Technology come to?

Technology in present time has become so advanced it has affected the lifestyles that people are accustomed to. Students can conceive up to 16 hours a day, starting from early dawn to later in the day; the constant use never stops. While the fascination of technology keeps increasing the improvement rises as well. Albert Einstein once said, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” With that said, two stories have both been bared upon by different outcomes from the use of technology. Both “The Veldt” and “There Will Come Soft Rains”, share symbolism, personification, and similes that help support the theme.

Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt”, had a symbolic detail to focus in on. The lions in the story can represent death. Because the story says, “You see, there are the lions, far over that way. Now they’re on their way to the water hole, they’ve just been eating.”(“The Veldt”, 1) The Hadleys were in the the nursery when they were experiencing the beastly creatures. At a point in the story a scream was heard while inside the nursery. The lions approached them, so they fled out of the scene. Their meaning was portraying something more usual than just an animal in the wild. “There Will Come Soft Rains” was also presented with symbolism.

“They’re will come soft rains and the smell of the ground” (“Soft Rains”, 618), represents the radioactivity during a nuclear war. Ash falls from the sky because people decided to destroy human life by the use of the nuclear bomb. While the explosion happened, it had no physical affect on the house. Only because it was too busy already saving itself. In both short stories the houses had a vast amount of dependency. When something seemed to occur, the homes already had responsibility of it. They controlled the situations and even manipulated them. Contrasting both stories, “The Veldt” gave a more negative aspect on technology use because of the events that took place.

The house in “The Veldt” had similar responsibilities a human would do in their personal household. It takes care of the mothers work as well as all that’s asked for. It shows personification by stating in, “The Veldt” that, “The house is wife and mother now and nursemaid.” (“Veldt”, 3) With all this technology updating, they were losing sight in what it’s like being a human.

With all the responsibility the house was given, it was also rewarded with ruling power. For example, the narrator in “There will be soft rains” personifies, “At 10 o’clock the house began to die.” A house cannot die, therefore it was becoming weak and on the verge of destruction. But because it was so programmed it protected itself, deflecting the possible abuse. To compare the stories, both houses were able to function without the help of a human. The job still got done and everything, everyone, was taken care of. They differ because in “There Will Come Soft Rains” the technology use was more advanced while it survived without the life of people, unlike “The Veldt.”

Much was compared throughout “The Veldt” but the simile; “The house lights followed her like a flock of fireflies” (“Veldt”, 4) grasped the theme well. No one touched the lights; the house knew when to turn them on and off. One move, one thought, or one command the house obeyed. “The tables folded like great butterflies backs through paneled walls” (“Soft Rains”, 616) was a simile comparing butterfly wings to the tables the house conducted itself to fold up.

It was an example of the way the house would work efficiently as if the owners were still living there. So in both short stories it shows that the houses had a quick reaction to knowing what to do. In “There Will Come Soft Rains” the reaction has a bigger meaning with it, when at odds “The Veldt”, it was a daily matter where the lights come on. Not every day a nuclear bomb is exposed in your community and destroys everything it comes upon.

In conclusion, symbolism, personification, and simile advance the theme in “The Veldt” and “There Will Come Soft Rains.” The similes were well put in the terms of justifying just how much technology is updating. Personification was a way of introducing the readers how it was being used. Symbolism stood for the outcomes the technological use could have. Technology can make a huge impact on people’s lives. Ergo the impact does not always promise a good response. It can change themselves, their decisions, and the outcomes for everything else. All in all, there should be limitations when it comes to technology. Reducing the usage will prevent the unfortunate outcomes technology has in store.