Ray Bradbury, was an American Novelist, screenwriter, and an essayist born in Waukegan, Illinois in 1920, wrote ‘The Last Night of the World’. He died in 2012 at the age of 91 having accomplished much of his career goals and winning awards (Dunbar 12-13). The story was set during the era of the cold war where the world’s population was scared about a possible warfare using lethal weapons like the hydrogen atomic bombs by the major powers (Rawnsley 23). Recalling the events of the previous World Wars reveals that the characters had valid reasons to entertain the thoughts of complete eradication of residences. The author successfully delivered his message to the readers that promoted the themes of courage, comfort and the acceptance of death. The story’s protagonists, a husband and a wife, have been having a strange feeling that they were on their last night in the world. They are in an extra-ordinary calm situation as they delve into their feelings of the apocalypse and come up with ideas of how they are to spend their last hours. Death can be considered as the antagonist while other characters are the couples' two daughters and Stan Willis.
Readers are initially made to think about the ideas to be conveyed, and it is through a keen reading that the main ideas are understood. The story seems to suggest that everyone on earth has entertained the thoughts of how the world will end, invoking strange feelings that are in most of the times, repressed. The readers’ intuitive thoughts of the last day are used to develop on the thought provocative narration with the emphasis being on the need to remain placid and calm (Bradbury 2). The couple in the short story recount on the events of their lives and emphasize the need to live a good life that has no regrets. It further turns out that people are not perfect but should engage in activities that consider the feelings and the emotion of others.
In strengthening the theme of acceptance, people are made to appreciate the value of sharing their inner feelings with close friends and family members. The world might seem heavy and scary if people live a secluded, closed and introverted lives that promotes the chances of depression. However, through the wife who was very worried of the recent thoughts of the end of the world, it turns out that sharing problems is key to restoring normalcy and seeking answers on the life’s most scary questions. Despite being aware of the irrational acts of warfare like the presence of bombers in the ocean, the husband ensures that the wife in consoled by convincing her that they have not been too bad (Bradbury 3). Events taking place at a time of war are meant to cause a total annihilation. This inspiring approach makes Bradbury an inspiring writer who shaped the writing skills of many in the 20th century. The development of the functional prose, composed characters and the projection of the human’s immense despair proves Bradbury's prowess.
Bradbury used rhetorical questions that were not comprehensively answered in the story, an intentional technique to let the authors meditate and seek personal answers. Constantly, the questions, “why the world would end” and “how would the world end” draws the readers’ attention, expanding on their thoughts and encouraging them not to bother much about their last days. The characters enjoyed coffee, discuss the end of the world and proceed to live a normal world by going routine activities such as cooking dinner and washing the dishes. In a normal setting, it would be expected people would be completely disoriented and incapable of embracing the reality that a catastrophic or an unstoppable event is going to happen. The approach of presenting arguments in a thought-provoking manner deviates from the normal storytelling trends where the readers expect to have everything broken down and easy to digests. However, ‘the last night of the world’, adopts a rather philosophical stand that calls for a deeper scrutiny to reveal the main hidden ideas.
The presentation of the facts and the philosophical stand taken on the idea of death makes the story worth recommending to readers who enjoy classical narration on answers that people seek about live. The theme of acceptance gives the idea of ‘the end of the world’ a reverse stand. Contrary to the presentation of the last days as scary, Bradbury argues that the best thing is to embrace the reality that everybody has to face because the fate is inevitable. However, the story might not be appealing to readers without an inquisitive and imaginative mind because the high degree of engagement required. Despite the abrupt end that the author made, the theme of acceptance was well conveyed, and the idea of the end of the world is undoubtedly indelible in the mind.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Mrsslibrary.Com, 2018, http://www.mrsslibrary.com/wp content/uploads/2015/09/Last-Night-of-the-World-original.pdf. Accessed 6 Mar 2018.
Dunbar, Michael. "From Bradbury to Butler: Los Angeles Science Fiction and the Aerospace Industry." California State University, Northridge, 2015.
Rawnsley, Gary D. Cold-War propaganda in the 1950s. Springer, 2016.
