Why did Bradbury use the title There will come Soft Rains?

Bradbury uses personification to great effect in the text. The writer described the alarm as having 'sang' and also he described it as being 'afraid that nobody would get up'. The word sang makes the alarm clock seem very personalized and ironically cheerful. The irony is that there is no one in the house left and there is nothing to be cheerful about from our perspective, but the for technology and nature, there is still a lot to be cheerful about. Also the fact that the alarm clock is 'afraid' makes it seem that the clock has feelings. From the start of the text, Bradbury is already describing how technology has started replacing humans, as normally it would be a busy mother calling to wake up their children. However now it is the alarm clock that is worried that no one would wake up. Also the irony is that technology was made by humans to save time and help do jobs like chores around the house and now that those jobs are not needed anymore, the technology keeps doing its job. Bradbury also uses foreshadowing here as he is dropping a hint that the house is empty and that it has been empty for a while because the clock was 'afraid that nobody would' get up. Also, after the dog enters and makes a mess, the mice were 'angry at having to pick up mud, angry at the inconvenience'. However, the mice need the mess to do their job and they need to have the inconvenience to survive so they keep doing their jobs. The use of personification gives the house human traits, making you feel sorry for its pathetic needless existence. This 'humanity' forces us to remember that there are no humans in the house, increasing the macabre atmosphere

The structure of the story also emphasises the way that 'soft rains will come' as described in the title. There are lots of punctuated references to time. This makes it very obvious what is missing and it emphasises the fact that humans are no longer alive. For example the time is always mentioned and everything is well structured. At children's hour the walls 'glowed' making them seem alive but there were no children to see them. Also, the house responds to the passing of time and still exists despite the emptiness of the house.

The death of the dog also resembles the way that humans died. The dog entered the house with technology cleaning up behind it. However, when the dog dies, the mice take it away and suddenly 'the dog was gone'. This is like how humans died out without there being any remembrance for them or any trace of their living.

Bradbury also makes oblique references to the family that once lived there. On the wall there was a black 'silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn'. This silhouette stands as a remembrance to the people who used to live here but that is the only trace of them and there are no traces of them anywhere else. The fact that the family is just a memory on a wall reveals how humans would be another picture on a history line, with the wall resembling part of a long line of history to come.

The city is often described as empty and dead. The city is described as 'ruined'. The word 'ruined' is a strong word, which implies that the world is going to become so bad that there could be no recovering. Also, the city is described as having given off a 'radioactive glow that could have been seen for miles'. The word 'glow' carries connotations with explosions and bombs. The word 'radioactive' is also associated with complex technology and Bradbury makes it seem that the technology will affect towns and cities very often and that atomic bombs will be very common.

It is also very ironic that the poem chosen was a favourite of the lady. As the poem was recited it accentuates the destruction of humans and how they did not listen to any warnings. Also, the fact that the poem is being said to an empty house leaves an eerie sense that the world still goes on and this warning is still said even though it is too late to warn anyone now. The poem is also very effective because it is split into two halves. The first half describing how humans would perish and the second half about how life and nature would live on. Also trees are described as being in 'tremulous white'. The word 'tremulous' is associated with fear and this reflects the mood around the trees. Bradbury uses an oxymoron in his description of the trees. The trees are described a 'wild plum-trees'. The word 'plum' is associated with brightness and ripeness. This is in contrast to the trembling, eerie white that they are surrounded in. Bradbury reflects how humans will live in terror and fright of being killed by each other whilst trees and nature will carry on ignoring what is going on around them. The poem chosen by the house relates to the title of the short story, "There Will Come Soft Rains", and is an important part of the story. It is ironic how humanity be forgotten, once the war has subsided, in an instant and never missed. It is showing how insignificant our achievements on earth are - technology, weapons and the importance of nature. Humanity is but a minor stain on the infinite earth, one that made an destroyed itself in a second.

Bradbury also makes the house a sacred place. "Inside, the house was like an altar." This is an important passage. The house is like a sacred ground, meticulously cleaned and cared for, always waiting for the arrival of its gods, "even though the gods have gone away and the ritual is meaningless." The poor dog is recognised as one of the houses former inhabitants and is let in the front door, dirtying the religiously clean hall. Bradbury describes the death of the dog in such a way that it makes it seem that the dog was punished for dirtying the religious grounds.

The fire also adds a lot to the irony. This is because in the end it is nature itself that ends up killing the house. Also, the fire finalizes the coming of soft rains. 'The sun rises, it is morning and the earth is cleansed'. Nature has finally won, destroying perhaps every 'living' trace of humanity, the last human effigy. Soft rains have finally come.

In conclusion the title 'There Will Come Soft Rains' is very effective upon the story as throughout the story Bradbury adds effect and exaggeration upon the destruction of humans by using techniques like personification to outline the missing of humans and also the use of the poem and the alarm clock as ironic things that still exist even though humans have died out. The story starts with the soft rains as being unknown but at the end the soft rains have finally come, destroying all resemblance and memory of humans.