Bullying is Cruel (All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury Short Story Analysis)

“ They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting and then pleading, and then crying back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door.” (Bradbury3). Have you ever been bullied because of something that made you different or unique this short story portrays our main character as a girl who was able to see the sun?

The short story, “All Summer in a Day”, written by Ray Bradbury is about a young girl named Margot who struggles with socializing with the people around her. She is very different from the children around her and she is bullied for it. On a planet with only rain, the sun rising is like a day of heaven. Margot claims to have seen such beauty she is tormented by her fellow students and outcasted for thinking differently. She is punished for her unique differences. This author utilizes many literary techniques and devices to display the theme. He crafts his story by creatively using Repetition, dialogue, and figurative language. Although many themes can be derived from this story, one particular stands out, and it’s how bullying often occurs when others are different.

Margot shows many differences throughout the text and gets outcasted for it. Bradbury clearly demonstrates this in many ways. At the beginning of the story, he uses a craft move called dialogue and imagery to show the bad interactions Margot has with her other students and to create a picture of how Margot sees the sun. “All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how hot. And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:

       I think the sun is a flower,

       That blooms for just one hour.

 That was Margot’s poem, read in a quiet voice in the still classroom while the rain was falling outside.

       “Aw, you didn’t write that!” protested one of the boys.

       “I did,” said Margot. “I did.”

       “William!” said the teacher.

But that was yesterday. Now the rain was slackening, and the children were crushed in the great thick windows.” (Bradbury1). This exhibits how other students abuse her verbally and shame her for something that she is affectionate about. Margot is a very passionate little girl and cares very deeply about something that most children have no hope about at all, which is another reason why she is outcasted for her dissimilarities.

He then emphasizes this theme by using dialogue again. “It’s like a penny, she said once, eyes closed.

       “No, it’s not!” the children cried.

   “It’s like a fire,” she said, “in the stove.”

       “You’re lying, you don’t remember!” cried the children.

       But she remembered and stood quietly apart from all of them and watched the patterning windows.” (Bradbury2). This highlights Margot’s uniqueness, it demonstrates how special she truly is, and how her piers hate her for it, they doubt her and try to dull her sparkle. Margot is constantly tormented and punished for her variance.

Finally, he uses more imagery to portray his theme. “ Oh, but, Margot whispered, her eyes helpless. “But this is the day, the scientists predict, they say, they know, the sun . . .”

       “All a joke!” said the boy, and seized her roughly. “Hey, everyone, let’s put her in a closet before the teacher comes!”

       “No,” said Margot, falling back.

They surged about her, caught her up, and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it. They heard her muffled cries. Then, smiling, they turned and went out and back down the tunnel, just as the teacher arrived.” (Bradbury3). This quote illustrates the physical damage Margot has to deal with and the psychological trauma that is shoved down her throat every day, and how every distinction she had was what made her special.

In his story, “All Summer in a Day,” Bradbury creatively demonstrates the theme that bullying often occurs when others are different. He does this through, dialogue, repetition, and imagery. Margot had a very rough life and overall a very tragic childhood while her differentiations made her seem like a threat to others what compelled her to act differently made her innocent and unique.