by Summary | Class 12 | ISC Syllabus | Prose
The story takes place in an automated house on August 4, 2026, in Allendale, California. The house is completely empty, but still it works perfectly-the alarm clocks, the food making, reminders, cleaning, gardening..everything!! As if a family is still living there.
At 7:00 a.m., a voice-clock sings to wake the people in the house, just like alexa or google home. In the kitchen, the stove prepares breakfast-automatically!! Toast, eggs, bacon, two cups of coffee, and two glasses of milk. Another voice announces the date, birthdays, annive.kmrsaries, and unpaid bills.
At 8:01 a.m., the house calls people to go to school and to work, but no one responds. There are no footsteps or closing of the doors. A weather box near the door softly announces rain. At 8:30, the untouched breakfast is all put into the sink, washed away, and the dishes clean themselves.
At 9:15, tiny robotic mice come out of the walls. They clean the house from end to end—they suck the dust and brush the carpets-just like vaccum cleaners, or rumba which cleans the house—and after finishing their work, they disappear again.
Then by 10:00 a.m., the sunlight reveals a very shocking truth. This house is standing alone in a city. A nuclear blast wiped out the whole city and its people. Everything around it is rubble, the remains, the ruins and ash, and at night the city glows with radioactivity.
Through the description of the shadows in this house, we get to know that it was just another day in their lives. A man mowing the lawn, a woman picking flowers, a boy throwing a ball, and a girl ready to catch it with her hands in the air. These shadows are the only remains of the family, destroyed in a second by a nuclear blast. But the house, it still continues to protect itself. It even reacts nervously to even small sounds. It has been mentioned that even if a sparrow touched the house then its shades snapped. So not even a bord must touch the house. It was so, mechanically well protected.
At 12:00 noon, a dog, looking very thin, sick, and weak—arrives at the house and enters when the door opens. Since the house knew the dog’s voice that is why it opened. The cleaning mice follow it angrily because they have to clean the mud brought along by the dog. The dog runs upstairs, crying at closed doors, but what does it get in return? Only silence!! But then it finally collapses and dies in the living room.
At 2:00 p.m., the robotic mice return they carefully remove the dog’s body, and take it to the cellar. By 2:15, the dog is completely burned and destroyed.
The house next, continues its routine without stopping. At 2:35, tables and drinks appear on the patio, an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation, or some kind of celebration. So the drinks appear for the guests who never come. At 4:00, everything is cleaned again. At 4:30, the nursery walls light up with colourful images of animals in a jungle for children who are no longer alive.
At 5:00, the bath tub fills automatically. Dinner preparations begin, and a cigar pops out in the study. At 9:00, the beds warm themselves.
At 9:05, a voice asks Mrs. McClellan which poem she would like to hear. When no answer comes, the house chooses a poem by Sara Teasdale, There Will Come Soft Rains. So the poem is about how nature will continue peacefully even if all humans die, and the world will not miss them. Music plays, the cigar burns to ash, and the house remains empty.
At 10:00 p.m., the disaster happens. A tree branch crashes through a kitchen window, and cleaning chemicals are spilled everywhere. As a result fire starts. The house cries “Fire!” The house tries to save itself. And tries to stop the fire with water sprays and alarms, but the fire spreads quickly. The water is finished, all the systems fail, and flames move through the house.
Although the chemical foam briefly slows the fire. And this thing has been presented very beautifully. That fire was like an elephant that gets a sudden shock when it sees a dead snake. But there is an explosion that destroys the attic controls. The fire grows stronger, melting mirrors and burning rooms, clothes, everything!! The nursery burns, and the animal images disappear. Even as the house collapses, mechanical voices continue announcing time and reading poetry. A thousand things start happening in confusion. And it continues till all the wires are burned and circuits break. In the kitchen, the stove hd also gone crazy. It was cooking ten dozen eggs, six loaves of toast, twenty dozen bacons. Because the fire was eating up everything so it thought more food is needed. That is why it kept cooking at a psychopathic rate.
Finally, the house is completely destroyed with a final crash!! Only smoke and silence remain. At sunrise, we get to know that one wall is still standing. And from THIS wall, a voice calmly repeats the date:
“Today is August 5, 2026…”
The voice keeps speaking, even though the house and all human life are gone.
The story shows how human pride in technology and war leads to self-destruction, while nature calmly survives and moves on even without humanity.
Question Suggestions
A. Very Short Answer Questions (1-2 marks)
- On which date and year is the story set?
- Where is the automated house located?
- Why is the house empty?
- What happens at seven o’clock every morning in the house?
- What role do the robotic mice play?
- What are the silhouettes on the wall?
- What causes the fire in the house?
- Name the poem recited by the house.
- Who wrote There Will Come Soft Rains (the poem)?
- What happens to the dog in the story?
- What is the last thing the house does before collapsing?
- What remains standing after the house is destroyed?
B. Short Answer Questions (5 marks)
- Describe the daily routine of the automated house.
- Explain the significance of the burnt silhouettes on the wall.
- What does the condition of the dog symbolise?
- How do the robotic mice function in the story?
- Describe the role of fire in the story.
- How does the house react to the fire?
- Why does the house read poetry at night?
- Describe the condition of the city surrounding the house.
- What is ironic about the house’s efficiency?
- Explain how the house represents human pride in technology.
C. Long Answer Questions (6–10 marks)
- Discuss the theme of technology versus humanity in the story.
- How does the story warn against human self-destruction?
- Explain the role of nature in the story.
- Analyse the significance of the poem There Will Come Soft Rains in the narrative.
- Describe how the automated house becomes a symbol of blind technological progress.
- Discuss the importance of time and routine in the story.
- How does Ray Bradbury present the dangers of war through imagery?
- Explain the irony in the ending of the story.
- “Nature will survive even if humanity destroys itself.” Discuss with reference to the story.
- Examine the house as a character in the story.
D. Theme-Based Questions
- How does the story reflect post-war fears of nuclear destruction?
- What message does the story convey about human control over technology?
- Explain how the story highlights the futility of human achievements.
- Discuss the theme of nature’s indifference to human existence.
- How does the story criticise blind faith in machines?
E. Symbolism-Based Questions
- What do the burnt silhouettes symbolise?
- What does the dog represent in the story?
- How is fire used as a symbol?
- What does the last standing wall signify?
- Explain the symbolic meaning of the automated routines.
F. Extract-Based Questions (Very Common)
Passages may be given from:
- The morning routine of the house
- The description of the silhouettes
- The dog’s entry and death
- The recitation of the poem
- The fire scene
G. Critical / Opinion-Based Questions
- Do you think technology can replace human presence? Give reasons.
- Is the automated house a success or a failure? Explain.
- Why does the ending of the story feel disturbing?
- How does the story remain relevant today?
