Here Comes the Sun

In "All Summer in a Day" a short story written by Ray Bradbury, families have moved from Earth to Venus, a planet that is only filled with rain, with only one hour of sun every seven years. There is a little girl named Margot that used to live on Ohio, in planet Earth and actually remembered the sun and how it felt. All of her classmates were born on Venus and if the sun ever came out seven years ago, they couldn't recall. She was different from the rest and actually believed and eager for the sun to come out again, now that seven years had past since it last did. Non of her classmates dared to believe her. Margot was bullied by her mates and that day they did another naughtiness. They locked her in a closet from the classroom preventing her from seeing the sun, if it ever came out. Just a few minutes later the sun indeed came out, shocking them all and making them fill with surprise. They enjoyed the warmness and the happiness. They did so until the hour ended and it started raining all over again. Once they got back to the classroom, they remembered about poor Margot, still locked in the closet and slowly and shyly they took her out.

In this story, Bradbury uses rich imagery making the story more profound.

"They came slowly to look at her opened palm. In the center of it, cupped and huge, was a single raindrop. She began to cry, looking at it. They glanced quietly at the sun"(4).

Ray Bradbury used the sense of sight to enhance the deepness of the story. He utilizes very specific and detailed description of the image. This quote clearly draws a picture on your head of a drop on a persons hand, tiny and transparent just like crystal, delicate and barely visible. In this quote you can clearly see the change of mood in the children, from being happy and joyful with such beauty of the sun to suddenly in just a minute to be absorbed by sadness and some sort of nostalgia.

Ray Bradbury, aside from imagery, utilizes characterization and exposes a clear vision of a certain character, increasing the connection of the reader with said character.

"She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke at all her voice would be a ghost" (2).

This quote talks about Margot, the main character of the story and demonstrates her physical looks. She was no ordinary kid, she was different from the rest because, unlike others, she was from Earth and remembered the sun and how it felt. She had been in the rain since she went to Venus and the lack of sun was clearly affecting her inside leading to a change in her outside. An image of a ghost girl is quickly drawn in the reader’s head.    


"All Summer in a Day" might seem like a simple story to read just for entertainment, nevertheless it includes a deep message that everyone must apply in their daily lives. Said message is: Enjoy something while you still have it, share it and be grateful because nothing lasts forever. People tend to be ungrateful for the things they have, enjoying them just for themselves and not actually appreciating the value of those things or moments. With characterization and imagery, Bradbury manages to add a serious amount of depth to the story and make it joyful to read changing it from a simple story to an amazing one.

Always remain positive, because the sun will always shine even after the worst storm.

It´s Now or Never

The Giver, a book so interesting, filled with intrigue and surprises that I can´t stop reading. Below you will find a poem that states what has happened in the last chapters I read...

“The game of war should not be played,

it caused a fight between best friends.

Reality was then displayed,

and things came to an end.

Here they come, they’ll be born,

the twins expected for so long.

But only one can stay in here,

or else it would be a big deal.

Rosemary, Rosemary,

failed ten years ago,

in the attempt to handle it all.

The pain she couldn’t bear

led her to despair.

The release had to be made,

and elsewhere then she went.

Her memories still stayed,

and a lot of pain displayed.

Release, release, what does it mean?

It´s a harsh and cruel thing.

In which death is clearly seen,

but it´s hidden from everything.

  

A life like that should not exist,

its good things are dismissed.

 It´s now or never for a change,

so a plan had to be made.

For everyone to understand,

they´re life style should be banned,

the memories had to return,

no matter if they hurt.”

As I continued reading, there were several parts of the book which made me stop and think about many different things, however the following quote really grabbed my attention:

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It´s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” (Lowry 154)

SHARE: it means to give a portion of something to others.

Life = sharing

When I read this quote it made me think mostly about the loneliness of not being able to share something so important, such as memories, with others. In life almost everything needs to be shared in order for them to be significant. A meaningful life is not one you keep to yourself, but one you share with others. Humans are interdependent, they need other people to share their life's with. Also, this made me think about one of the themes in the book: “Importance of Memories.” Memories give people wisdom, intelligence and feelings, but all of those things need to be shared, that’s what makes them special. The sharing of love and happiness as well as pain unites people together, like Jonas and The Giver. Furthermore when I read this quote I realized that if I had to live in a world in which special things like memories couldn't be shared, I would feel empty and lonely. No one should live like that, things had to change.

The Giver gets more interesting and makes me fill with intrigue each word I continue to read. The decision Jonas and The Giver made about changing their community and the way in functions really surprised me. I think that Jonas is a very brave person when he decided to leave everything behind to make people understand their life's needed to be different.If I was in his position it would be really hard for me to do it.  

There is only one chance to change this community... IT´S NOW OR NEVER.