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.