There Will Come Soft Rains

“There Will Come Soft Rains” is a story without any human characters. Why do you think Bradbury chose to write a story about the experiences of the house rather than the people who lived in it? What effect does the lack of human characters have on the readers’ understanding of the text?

Who or what is the “main character” of this story? Are there any other characters? Can you identify a protagonist and antagonist (or a hero and a villain)? If so, what makes one a hero and the other a villain?

What is the narrator’s role in the story? Consider the differences between first-person, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient narration. How does the narrator’s perspective affect the reader’s understanding of the events that take place in the story? How would the story be different if, for example, it used a first-person perspective?