There Will Come Soft Rains Literary Devices

“The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants…”

“There Will Come Soft Rains” takes place in California in the year 2026

“The voice-clock sang “‘Tick-tock, seven o’clock…’”

"filled the house with a rich baked odor and the scent of maple syrup."

“…where hot water whirled them…the dirty dishes were dropped”

"At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles."

Technology must be developed very carefully, or it may destroy those who created it.

"Behind it whirred angry mice, angry at having to pick up mud, angry at inconvenience."

"But the solvent spread on the linoleum, licking, eating, under the kitchen door"

The spreading fire in “There Will Come Soft Rains” represents the limits of technology.

"an incinerator which sat like evil Baal in a dark corner."

"The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat"

“The incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl of sparks leaped up the chimney.”

"The dinner dishes manipulated like magic tricks, and in the study a click."

The beginning of “There Will Come Soft Rains,” frequently references “the empty house”