Julines Reynoso Class 701

“All Summer in a Day” Ray Bradbury

Have you ever wanted something so bad and were deprived of getting it? In a science
fiction story named “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury, Margot, the protagonists was in
this situation. She was really eager to see the sun but the children and a boy named William
took that away from her. The setting and the characterization of Margot created the theme of
man’s inhumanity to man because the setting was on Venus, underground and Margot was an
introverted girl.

In the underground world of Venus, a place with no sun lived a girl named Margot.
The sun only came out once every seven years and she was eager to see it. At first, William
and a group of other kids always used to bully Margot because of her knowledge of the sun.
They told her the sun was never going to come out. Then, they locked her in a closet and when
the sun came out everyone enjoyed it except Margot. Therefore, Margot did not see the sun
and all the kids were ashamed of what they done.

The characterization of Margot and the setting on Venus created the theme of man’s
inhumanity to man. To start with, when William told Margot the sun wasn’t going to come
out, her response sounded like she was very timid and helpless. It showed she’s not a person
who interacts with people. She mumbled, “Oh, but, this is the day the scientists predict, they,
say, they know, the sun…” She was stuttering and wasn’t sure about the words that were
coming out her mouth. The kids hated Margot because she had the knowledge of the sun and
they didn’t. They were jealous of her. They teased her and this showed she was different from
all of the other kids. William used her traits against her by screaming and physically pushing
her. When William shoved her, all she did was stand still. In order, for Margot not to see the
sun the kids shoved her in a closet. In the story, it said, “Saw it tremble from her beating and
throwing herself against it”. This showed she was really eager to see the sun and didn’t want
anything to stop her. Margot is a frail girl and she looks like she washed away and was very
weak. On Venus, it rained 24/7 nonstop. The time and place affected the characters because
the kids would not have bullied Margot if there was no rain. William was a mean person
which was probably the affect of the rain. The setting affected Margot’s personality because
she was depressed. It has been raining for years, therefore it made Margot depressed. She
wanted to feel the warmth of the sun but her world was dull and colorless while it rained.

The short story “All Summer in a Day” affected me in many ways. I learned that the
weather really does affect a person’s way of acting and their personality. It changes their ways
and traits. It taught me that you can’t take advantage of people because of their traits. You
have to treat people with respect and kindness. Also, you have to treat people the way you want
to be treated. The story changed my idea of bullying because I noticed people become helpless
and end up killing themselves because of what they were going through. However, people
bully to let out their anger. Once they bully a person they feel relieved and they’re not going to
stop unless they realize they are doing the wrong thing. This story told a lot about the nature
of children. It showed that children have their own way of expressing their feelings and that
they do things without reason. Children have to think before they act in a situation.