The Long Rain is a short story by science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. It was first published in 1950 in the magazine The Saturday Evening Post, and later included in Bradbury's collection The Martian Chronicles.
The story is set on the planet Mars, which has become a colonized world for humans. The main character is a man named Major Fenton, who is part of a group of astronauts that have crash-landed on the planet and are trying to find their way back to civilization.
As the group sets out on their journey, they are confronted with a strange and seemingly endless rain that falls on the planet. The rain is described as being "long" and "unending," and it causes a great deal of discomfort and hardship for the astronauts as they try to make their way through the alien landscape.
Despite the challenges they face, the group remains determined to find their way back to civilization. They are aided by a native Martian, who helps them navigate the treacherous terrain and provides them with shelter and sustenance.
As they journey on, the group begins to feel the psychological effects of the long rain. They become increasingly restless and irritable, and their thoughts turn to the comforts of home and the people they have left behind.
Despite their hardships, the group ultimately perseveres and reaches their destination, where they are greeted with open arms by their fellow astronauts and the welcoming embrace of civilization.
In The Long Rain, Bradbury explores the theme of human resilience in the face of adversity. The story highlights the power of the human spirit to overcome even the most challenging of circumstances and to keep moving forward in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It is a poignant and thought-provoking tale that speaks to the enduring strength and determination of the human spirit.
The Long Rain by Ray Bradbury Plot Summary
Even his uniform was beginning to turn white, and perhaps a little green with fungus. Even as they stood over the body it began to vanish, for the vegetation was edging in upon it, little vines and ivy and creepers, and even flowers for the dead. He was often dismissed, if not outright ridiculed, by mainstream writers, but quickly learned to ignore his critics. They tried to push a bill through Congress back on Earth a year ago to provide for a couple dozen more, but oh no, you know how that is. They make their way across milky white rivers and through the pale jungle.
The Long Rain by Ray Bradbury
This episode is all atmosphere and no context. Going in a circle and ending up back at the ship makes sense if you are the dolts from The Blair Witch Project using a map did they have a map? Even a couple of salient, suggestive allegories would have helped. And near the books a cot, a soft deep cot upon which one might lie, exposed and bare, to drink in the rays of the one great bright thing which dominated the long room. Boltz destroys the GPS and drowns himself by swallowing the rain, Cooper opens himself up to be killed by lightning. I will let the reader read it and enjoy it. How many nights have we slept? They looked like stone fountains frozen in the jungle, issuing forth water from every pore.
The Long Rain Themes
The reader is welcome to come and enjoy a read or two as well. One student bought the book, and waited two full months before it arrived, and the first story that he read was this one; "The Long Rain". They set off down the coast, southward again. The book ended with Eliot splitting the Rosewater fortune up to fifty-seven different children that are not even his children. But explorers using a GPS type of device? Drops fell and touched other drops and they became streams that trickled over his body, and while these moved down his flesh, the small growths of the forest took root in his clothing.
The Long Rain Study Guide
As a child, Ray Bradbury was a voracious reader. It was a world where you had to trudge through water, currents, mud and bog to find this elusive sun dome. Both authors incorporate fact and fantasy scenes in their writings, albeit in different contexts. He shook his head and waved the lieutenant on. The lieutenant orders all of his comrades to lie down in the mud, but one of themâan unnamed manâruns away screaming. There, they survive and live safe against the rainy onslaught of torrential and never-ending water.
