Contemplating the End in Shaving and There Will Come Soft Rains Essay

Contemplating the End in Shaving and There Will Come lenient Rains What happens at the end? Shaving and There Will Come Soft Rains both address that issue, the first referring to the end of a mans life, the second to the end of humanity. Both ends list about through illness, whether that of a dying man or of a society that drives itself to suicide. The microcosm, the macrocosm- both show in their own way that man is mortal, that this likewise sh every last(predicate) pass. The authors seem to consume irreconcilable messages about humanity, which are in fact merely two faces of the same coin. There Will Come Soft Rains says that, yes, we fire build magnificent machines beautiful houses to cater to our every need, a thousand servants at our beck and call- yet what benefit will they be at the end? When we claw ourselves into radioactive smithereens because we can sooner built houses fit for gods then learn to live in peace with our fellow mortals, what good will our machines be to us then? The loyal family dog searched futilely for his masters, the house tried in vain to save itself from the fires, but their efforts to save their masters were ludicrous, for the master race had kill off itself and left the servants all alone, impotent. Not one of mans creations could stand at the day of reckoning and save him from extinction- nor would many mourn his passage. This is a humbling thought, that our planet would bring through quite well without us were we to rid it of our presence- and that in just a short while, it would almost be as if we had never existed at all. Times guard changed since the writing of There Will Come Soft Rains, when the threat of nuclear extermination seemed more real than it is now. But should we read it only as a chill... ...y chose to perform a small favor for his terminally ill father, to reach out to another human being and to work for a while for anothers growth at his expense- and by doing so he gained more than the hapless f amily had ever known. Really, of what benefit is it if a man gains the whole world, but loses his soul? demands the Bible. The pursuit of all the latest and greatest things, be they beautiful clothes or flashy cars or gorgeous homes or staggering bank-balances or prestigious degrees or broad political power, is not important. We can deceive ourselves into believing otherwise at the risk of creating the future as seen in There Will Come Soft Rains, or we pursue the more important things, as hinted at in Shaving, so that when the end does come- and both stories reflect that inevitability- we will know that we have not spent our lives in vain.