All Summer in a Day
| "All Summer in a Day" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Ray Bradbury | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction |
| Media type | Short story |
| Publication date | March 1954 |
"All Summer in a Day" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published in March 1954 for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.[1]
Plot synopsis[edit]
The story is about a class of students on Venus, which, in this story, is a world of constant rainstorms, where the sun is only visible for two hours every seven years.
One of the children, Margot, moved to Venus from Earth five years earlier and is the only one who remembers the sun, since it shines regularly on Earth. She describes the sun to the other children as being like a "penny" or "fire in the stove". The other children, being too young to have ever seen it themselves, do not believe her. Just before the sun comes out, a boy named William rallies the other children, and they lock Margot in a closet down a tunnel.
The teacher arrives to take the class outside to enjoy their hour of sunshine. In their astonishment and joy, they all forget about Margot and gleefully rush to play outside, savoring every second of their newfound freedom.
It begins to rain again, and the children start crying once they realize they won't get to see the sun again for another seven years. The children run back inside as the sun disappears and it starts storming. At this point, one of them remembers Margot. They let her out of the closet and stand frozen, ashamed over what they have done now that they finally understand what she had been missing.
Adaptations[edit]
A 30-minute television adaptation was created, originally broadcast on the PBS' children's series WonderWorks in 1982. The ending is expanded to show the children atoning for their horrible act by giving Margot flowers that they picked while the Sun was out.[2] The director of photography was Robert Elswit, who went on to become an Academy Award winning cinematographer. A very notable difference is that in this version, the sun only appears every nine years.
Short film cast[edit]
- Reesa Mallen as Margot
- Keith Coogan as William
- Jerry Marshak as Michael
- Tammy Simpson as Paula
- Bridget Meade as Lisa
- Edith Fields as Mrs. Callaghan
Analysis[edit]
The story has been discussed in the context of magic realism, as a metaphor for the importance of Earth and difficulty in surviving outside of the human natural environment.[3]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Publication history for "All Summer in a Day" at Author Wars web site. "This text is available under a Creative Commons License and may have been adapted from the All Summer in a Day bibliography at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database". Retrieved from http://authors.wizards.pro/books/titles/58363/all-summer-in-a-day.
- ^ All Summer In A Day Pt. 3 on YouTube
- ^ Bouyahya, Driss (2021-07-28). The Notion of Space within Diverse Fields of Cognizance. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-1-5275-7318-5.
External links[edit]
- All Summer in a Day title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database