Contemplating the End in Shaving and There Will Come Soft Rains Essay

Contemplating the End in Shaving and at that place Will Come Soft Rains What happens at the displace? Shaving and thither Will Come Soft Rains twain address that issue, the first referring to the rarity of a mans life, the second to the end of humanity. Both ends come ab forth d unitary illness, whether that of a dying man or of a society that drives itself to suicide. The microcosm, the macrocosm- two show in their own way that man is mortal, that this too shall pass. The authors look to have irreconcilable messages about humanity, which are in fact still two faces of the same coin. there Will Come Soft Rains says that, yes, we can build magnificent machines beautiful homes to cater to our eery need, a green servants at our beck and call- yet what benefit go away they be at the end? When we fry ourselves into radioactive smithereens because we can sooner built houses fit for gods indeed learn to live in peace with our fellow mortals, what good will our machines be t o us then? The loyal family dog searched futilely for his master, the house tried in vain to save itself from the fires, but their efforts to save their masters were ludicrous, for the master race had exterminated itself and left the servants all alone, impotent. Not one of mans creations could stand at the day of reckoning and save him from extinction- nor would many regret his passage. This is a humbling thought, that our planet would survive quite well without us were we to rid it of our presence- and that in just a short while, it would almost be as if we had never existed at all. Times have changed since the writing of thither Will Come Soft Rains, when the threat of nuclear extermination seemed more real than it is now. But should we read it only as a chill... ...y chose to fulfil a small favor for his terminally ill father, to reach out to another human being and to work for a while for anothers take in at his expense- and by doing so he gained more than the hapless fam ily had ever known. Really, of what benefit is it if a man gains the whole world, but loses his soul? demands the Bible. The inquisition of all the latest and greatest things, be they beautiful clothes or flashy cars or gorgeous homes or staggering bank-balances or reputable degrees or considerable political power, is not great. We can deceive ourselves into accept otherwise at the risk of creating the future as seen in There Will Come Soft Rains, or we pursue the more important things, as hinted at in Shaving, so that when the end does come- and both stories reflect that inevitability- we will know that we have not spent our lives in vain.