The Short Story Series #1: All Summer in a Day

Well, I feel likes it is time to give to the world a new appreciation for the Short Story, a genre that is often looked over and disregarded. The Short Story Series presents to you ten outstanding short stories that have been recommended to me or ones that I honestly accidentally came across.

#1: All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury

Margot once lived on Earth. Now she lives on Venus, where it rains nonstop, save for a couple of hours every seven years. She is depressed and outcast, for no one believes she has seen the beautiful rays of the sun. On the day the Sun is supposed to appear, her life takes a turn for the worst when she is locked inside a dark closet by her classmates.

From the moment the narrator spoke of Margot's previous life on Earth, I realized the story was much more than a fantastical account of what life on Venus could be life. No, I realized that it was about a depressed little girl, bullied because she was different than the others. Outcast because she was labeled as a liar. The entire time the children were outside, thoughts of Margot dwindled in the back of my mind. I understood her, because I too had been bullied and outcast. I knew how she felt, just not to the same extent. I believe that Bradbury was portraying the fact that kids are universally mean when they see differences, on the other hand, he was showing the way people marvel at the wonders of nature. Two totally different messages were wrapped up in this amazing little story. 

The omniscient narrator obviously knew everything, which added this extra passion to the story, especially because it made Margot so much more than a bullied nine-year-old girl. Margot became a symbol for depression, for homesickness, for that longing to belong even though you know you never can. It made her a deep, lovable character, one you couldn't help but feel sorry for, one you just wanted to reach out and help even though she was worlds away.

I think Ray Bradbury purposely made the other characters unlikable, just so readers would feel for Margot even more. If that was his goal, he truly succeeded with me. I loved Margot from the beginning. I felt like I was there, in the classroom with her, upset that I could do nothing to help her for fear of being bullied myself by the other children. As afore mentioned, I could not help but think of her in the back of my mind as I read on. She was just genuinely likeable because she was innocent and misunderstood. 

Overall Rating: 8.5/10