Question

How does Ray Bradbury develop the mood in “All Summer in a Day”?

Answer 1

Bradbury uses lyrical language to convey a mood of longing and loss in this story of a Venus where the sun only emerges once every seven years. This mood is reinforced by the personality of the main character, Margot, a sensitive, melancholy little girl whose soul’s sadness seems reflected in the ever present rain. The sun in this story becomes the metaphor for all our longings and desires.

Bradbury doesn’t just say it rained all the time, but describes the rain: “the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy … A thousand forests had been crushed.” Likewise, Bradbury lingers over descriptions of the sun. It is like “gold” or a “lemon crayon,” “flaming bronze” and a “warm iron.”

Bradbury repeatedly uses similes and poetic language to describe this sun and this world. Rather than hurtle us forward from event to event in this stoiy, Bradbury encourages us, through his description, to stop and to experience being drenched in what it is like to be on this imaginary Venus. Only two things happen in terms of plot: the sun comes out and Margot, who longs so deeply to see it, is locked away in a closet by the other children. The rest is the longing mood Bradbury evokes.