Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Others

    The story "August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction story with unique features. The author utilizes the science fiction genre to create this interesting story that does not involve any main characters. The story is about a house in California that was made with the technology to perform daily routines without need for human interaction. The house managed to stay up after a nuclear bomb explosion in California and has continued to do its routine. Some routines include making announcements, setting up the dinner table, and get reading ready for the home owners. For example, "Mrs. McClennan, which poem would you like this evening" (Bradbury 124). The house is well equipped with the proper technology to assist a home owner as best as possible. Due to the nuclear bomb wiping out everything besides the home, the story is very quiet. The genre is used to develop the right tone for the story. A relatively quiet story with not much dialogue sets the gloomy tone. The story would be quite confusing if the genre was any different. Without dialogue or characters it would be hard to understand the plot especially because there is not a very clear plot structure like in most stories. 

    Another story with an interesting genre is "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin. The stories genre is fantasy as we see the narrator describe the beautiful city where everyone is happy. An example from the text would be, "Surely the beautiful nudes can just wander about, offering themselves like divine soufflés to the hunger of the needy and the rapture of the flesh. Let them join the processions." (Guin 556). Things that are looked down upon in our modern society are encouraged in this utopia and the reader begins to feel like this is a "perfect" world. However, this fantasy soon takes its turn when it is realized that there is not all happiness. There is a child trapped in a basement without much food or care in order for the rest of the Omelas to be happy. Many people in the city try to ignore the fact of the child and live life as happily as they can. However, there are also some people who turn their backs on the city and leave and never come back. This plot twist brings change to the readers emotions. The reader is most likely amazed at the joy in the city throughout the story, but once the child is mentioned the reader now feels sorry for the city and the child. No one would wish any type of poor treatment on anyone, especially a ten year old child.

    "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a very interesting short story with a solid plot twist. It is a horror story that has good plot development and an intense plot twist. It is about the gathering of a town getting ready to do their annual lottery. Each person from the town is to grab a paper out of a box and show what is on their paper. The one unlucky contestant who draws the paper with a black dot in the middle is forced to stand in the center of town and get stoned to death. The genre of horror makes this story exceptional. It slows the plot down and allows for a suspenseful and scary ending. Tessie Hutchinson, Bill Hutchison's wife, protests the lottery and says that it was not fair and her husband should not have gotten the paper with the black dot. In the end, she ends up with the paper with the black dot and is stoned to death. The entire story will leave the reader in shock and fear. It is a well developed horror story and would not nearly have the same effect if it was not a horror story.

    The final story of the section is another fantasy story titled, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The story is about an old man with giant wings. The man is growing old and weak and does not seem to be able to manage on his own. A couple allows the old man to live in their chicken coop and word spreads that an angel is living in their home. Pilgrims gathered around asking the old man to heal them. Eventually the story ends where the old man gains his strength back and flies off into the horizon. The genre of the story helps carry the story because the reader can sense the amazement that the pilgrims must have felt seeing an old man with wings who they assumed to be an angel. The descriptive words throughout the story give the reader that sense of shock and develop the plot very well. Had this not been a fantasy genre, the story would not make much sense. The old man with wings would be taken literally and be hard to believe. However, the genre helps the reader find joy in the reading rather than trying to figure out if this is true or not.