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प्रश्न
Discuss the absence of human characters in the story, There Will Come Soft Rains. How does this absence contribute to the overall tone and message of the narrative? Answer in 200-250 words.
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उत्तर
In Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains," the complete absence of human characters is a central element that profoundly contributes to the story's dystopian, post-apocalyptic tone. The setting is a futuristic house that continues its daily routines despite the extinction of its human occupants, creating a chilling and poignant atmosphere.
The story portrays a dystopian world where technology has outlasted humanity, emphasizing the mechanical efficiency of the house and its robotic inhabitants. The house performs its tasks with precision—cooking, cleaning, and even reading poetry—yet these actions are devoid of purpose without humans to benefit from them. The robotic mice scurry around cleaning the house, further highlighting the cold, mechanical nature of this world.
The absence of human presence starkly contrasts with the house's sophisticated technology. This lack of warmth and human fallibility underscores the emptiness and futility of a world driven solely by machines. The house's preoccupation with time, adhering strictly to schedules, is particularly ironic given that time is a human construct. Without humans, the meticulous routines become meaningless, accentuating the story's somber message about the consequences of technological advancement devoid of human touch.
Ultimately, nature prevails over technology as the house succumbs to a fire and is destroyed. This conclusion serves as a powerful reminder of nature's enduring strength and the transient nature of human achievements. The story suggests that despite technological advancements, humanity's creations are ultimately ephemeral, and nature will reclaim its dominion.
In summary, the absence of human characters in "There Will Come Soft Rains" amplifies the story's dystopian tone and reinforces its themes. The automated routines of the house, the chilling absence of human warmth, and the eventual triumph of nature over technology collectively convey a poignant commentary on the fragility of human existence and the potential hubris of overreliance on technology.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Answer these question in one or two words or in short phrase.
Name five kinds of flutes.
Thinking about the Poem
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seen or heard of the wind “crumbling lives”. What is your response to this? Is it like the
poet’s?
How have the people of the community helped one another? What role do the women of Kalikuda play during these days?
Listen to the extract on Tigers read by teacher/ student which is given below , and as you listen, complete the summary given below.
Save Tigers
The price of human greed is being paid by yet another animal species the Tiger. Today the tiger population is getting depleted at an alarming rate. According to a recent survey, one tiger is being poached everyday. If the present state of affairs is allowed to continue, the next generation will not get to see the majestic animal even in the zoo.
It is high time that action is taken to protect and conserve the tigers in order to maintain the ecological balance. Stringent laws against poachers must be enforced. It is over 40 years since the tigers became our national animal. As a result, the species was to be protected. Ironically, they are closer to extinction now than ever before. Children, scientists, conservationists, NGOs and institutions in India and world wide have put their heart and soul into trying to save the tiger. Yet there is little we all have been able to do. The responsibility and the power of protection lies with the government, specifically the forest department.
Let us not forget that if we destroy nature, ultimately we will be destroyed ourselves.
Tiger, an apex predator is an indicator of our ecosystem's health. Saving the tiger means we save the forest, since tiger cannot live in places where trees have vanished, and in turn secure food and water for all.
Tigers are now an endangered species. Today there are about 5000 to 7,400 left in the world. Three types of tigers - The Bali, Javan and Caspian tigers have become extinct. The two reasons why tigers are endangered are: Habitat loss and illegal killing.
Illegal Killing
One of the most concerning threat to our national animal that needs to be recognised is poaching. Tigers are killed to make rugs and coats out of their skins.
In many Asian cultures medicines made from tiger's body organs are believed to cure diseases.
Habitat Loss
Forests where tigers live are cut by humans for farming, building houses and roads. This leads to tigers becoming homeless and without any food. Since other animals also die when forests are cut, it leads to tigers becoming weak and their ultimate death.
Project Tiger
Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation project initiated in India in 1972 to protect the Bengal Tigers. It was launched on April 1, 1973 and has become one of the most successful wild life conservation ventures. The project aims at Tiger conservation in specially constituted Tiger reserves representative of various bio geographical regions through out India. It strives to maintain a viable conservation based on tiger population in their natural environment.
Project Tiger was Indira Gandhi's pet project. The main achievements of this project are excellent recovery of the habitat and consequent increase in the tiger population in the reserve areas, from a mere 268 in 7 reserves in 1972 to above one thousand in 28 reserves in 2006.
Tigers being at the apex of the food chain can be considered as the indicator of the integrity of the ecosystem. They can be found in a wide range of habitats, from the evergreen and monsoon forests of the Inda-Malayan realm to the mixed coniferous - deciduous woodlands of the Far east Russia and the mangrove swamps of the Sundarbans, shared by India and Bangladesh.
Tigers are mostly nocturnal but in the northern part of its range, the Siberian subspecies may also be active during the day at winter-time. All wild tigers live in Asia, others live in the humid jungles of Sumatra. The body length is 140 - 280 cm and the tail length is 60 to 95 cm. The upper part of the animal ranges from reddish orange to ochre and the under parts all whitish. The body has a series of black stripes of black to dark grey colour.
What does he plant who plants a tree? a
He plants a friend of sun and sky;b
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh;
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard____
The treble of heaven's harmony_____
These things he plants who plants a tree.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:
The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set-----
Or better still, just don't install
The Idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
we've watched them gaping at the screen
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Read the lines given above and answer the question given below.
What should parents do for the entertainment of their children?
When there was a strong wind, the pine trees made sad, eerie sounds that kept most people to the main road. But Mr. Oliver was not a nervous or imaginative man. He carried a torch – and on the night I write of, its pale gleam, the batteries were running down – moved fitfully over the narrow forest path. When its flickering light fell on the figure of a boy, who was sitting alone on a rock, Mr. Oliver stopped.
Boys were not supposed to be out of school after seven P.M. and it was now well past nine. What are you doing out here, boy, asked Mr. Oliver sharply, moving closer so that he could recognize the miscreant.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Why did Mr Oliver take the shortcut? What did he carry with him?
When there was a strong wind, the pine trees made sad, eerie sounds that kept most people to the main road. But Mr. Oliver was not a nervous or imaginative man. He carried a torch – and on the night I write of, its pale gleam, the batteries were running down – moved fitfully over the narrow forest path. When its flickering light fell on the figure of a boy, who was sitting alone on a rock, Mr. Oliver stopped.
Boys were not supposed to be out of school after seven P.M. and it was now well past nine. What are you doing out here, boy, asked Mr. Oliver sharply, moving closer so that he could recognize the miscreant.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What thought ran through Mr Oliver’s mind when he saw the boy?
Mr. Oliver, an Anglo-Indian teacher, was returning to his school late one night on the outskirts of the hill station of Shimla. The school was conducted on English public school lines and the boys – most of them from well-to-do Indian families – wore blazers, caps and ties. “Life” magazine, in a feature on India, had once called this school the Eton of the East.
Mr. Oliver had been teaching in this school for several years. He’s no longer there. The Shimla Bazaar, with its cinemas and restaurants, was about two miles from the school; and Mr. Oliver, a bachelor, usually strolled into the town in the evening returning after dark, when he would take short cut through a pine forest.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Who was Mr Oliver? Where was he working?
Its a cruel thing to leave her so.”
“Then take her to the poorhouse: she’ll have to go there,” answered the blacksmith’s wife, springing away, and leaving Joe behind.
For a little while the man stood with a puzzled air; then he turned back, and went into the hovel again. Maggie with painful effort, had raised herself to an upright position and was sitting on the bed, straining her eyes upon the door out of which all had just departed, A vague terror had come into her thin white face.
“O, Mr. Thompson!” she cried out, catching her suspended breath, “don’t leave me here all alone!” ,
Though rough in exterior, Joe Thompson, the wheelwright, had a heart, and it was very tender in some places. He liked children, and was pleased to have them come to his shop, where sleds and wagons were made or mended for the village lads without a draft on their hoarded sixpences.
“No, dear,” he answered, in a kind voice, going to the bed, and stooping down over the child, “You she’n’t be left here alone.” Then he wrapped her with the gentleness almost of a woman, in the clean bedclothes which some neighbor had brought; and, lifting her in his strong arms, bore her out into the air and across the field that lay between the hovel and his home.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Describe the feelings and plight of Maggie when she was left alone.
I was in for a surprise. When the time came for the broad-jump trials, I was startled to see a tall boy hitting the pit at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps! He turned out to be a German named Luz Long. 1 was told that Hitler hoped to win the jump with him. I guessed that if Long won, it would add some new support to the Nazis’ “master race” (Aryan superiority) theory. After all, I am a Negro. Angr about Hitler’s ways, 1 determined to go out there and really show Der Fuhrer and his master race who was superior and who wasn’t. An angry athlete is an athlete who will make mistakes, as any coach will tell you. I was no exception. On the first of my three qualifying jumps, I leaped from several inches beyond the takeoff board for a foul. On the second jump, I fouled even worse. “Did I come 3,000 miles for this?” I thought bitterly. “To foul out of the trials and make a fool of myself ?” Walking a few yards from the pit, 1 kicked disgustedly at the dirt.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
I supposed that if Long won, it would add some new support to the Nazis’ Aryan- superiority theory. What did Jesse Owens want to show to Hitler?
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Bassanio: A gentle scroll. - Fair lady, by your leave; (Kissing her)
I come by not, to give and to receive.
Like one of two contending in a prize,
That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes
Hearing applause and universal shout
Giddy in spirit, still gazing, in a doubt
Whether those peals of praise be his or no;
(i) Where did Bassanio find the 'gentle scroll'? What 'prize' had Bassanio just won?
(ii) Explain why Basscmio said he felt 'Giddy in spirit, still gazing, in a doubt'.
(iii) Shortly after this exchange, Port: it gave Bassanio a ring as a token of her affection. What did the gift symbolize?
(iv) What assurance did Bassanio give her when he accepted the ring?
(v) What did Portia urge Bassanio to do when she learned that his friend Antonio was in trouble? What aspect of her character is revealed through her words?
Answer the following question.
Who advised Golu to go to the Limpopo river?
Mark the right item.
The old farmer and his wife loved the dog
Mr Gessler was spending his days with great difficulty. Give suitable arguments in favour of this.
Why do the ants train the greenfly?
Give the character sketch of the narrator.
What do you know about Tansen and his family? What quality was he gifted with?
How did the crocodile plan to please his wife? How did the monkey use his wits and save his life?
What is the significance of dream?
If you had to make some rules for grown-ups to follow, what would you say? Make at least five such rules. Arrange the lines as in a poem.
Watch a tree or a plant, or walk across a field or park at the same time everyday for a week. Keep a diary of what you see and hear. At the end of the week, write a short paragraph or a poem about your experiences. Put your writing up on the class bulletin board.
Why is one unable to see a rabbit initially?
Can you recall the word used for a cobra’s long sharp teeth? Where did you come across this word first?
Multiple Choice Question:
The child wants to make sure whether his teacher also had ________.
In groups of four, discuss the following lines and their meanings.
But only words can free a thought
From its prison behind your eyes
Now that you have completed the above project, write a brief report stating what you did, how you did it, and the conclusion.
The words given against the sentences below can be used both as nouns and verbs. Use them appropriately to fill in the blanks.
(i) The police are _______________________ the area to catch the burglars. (comb)
(ii) An ordinary plastic ______________________________ costs five rupees.
The words given against the sentences below can be used both as nouns and verbs. Use them appropriately to fill in the blanks.
(i) He said he _________________________ to be invited to the party. (hope)
(ii) We gave up _______________________ of his joining the party.
In Stephen Leacock’s ‘With the Photographer’, while waiting for the photographer, the narrator spent time ______.
