Vanished Light

All Summer in a Day written by Ray Bradbury is about a girl, named Margot, who is part of a classroom in Venus planet. The big event that everybody was exciting and expecting was that it will stop raining and the sun will appear only for one hours. This event only occurs every seven years, so for all the children, it was going to be almost like the first time because the last time they saw the sun they were 2 years old. Margot came from the earth were she experienced the sun every day, so she was different from the others, she was quiet, she never played with anybody, she only observes what happen in her surroundings, so these bother other children. That specific day one boy begun bothering Margot and they decided to lock her in the closet, saying that the event won’t happened today. As soon as they locked the door, the teacher came and it stopped raining. Everybody came out of the underground house to experience the sun; the kids, danced, they ran among the trees, slipped and fell, they played, they squinted at the sun until the tears ran down their faces, they did so many things, things that nobody could if you were living seven years only with rain. They looked at everything and savored everything. Then, wildly, like animals escaped from their caves, they ran and ran in shouting circles. They ran for an hour and did not stop running”. Suddenly the two hours were gone and it started to rain again. All of them returned to the underground house, were a kid remembered that Margot was still locked. They came closer to the closet, and without any noise they opened the door and in a cold silence, they let Margot out.

In the story, All Summer in a Day, Rau Bradbury uses characterization very well, making the reader understand the personality of the character with clues and makes you think deeper as you read. An example is when, Margot is in the classroom and shares her poem,

"… 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 "(1).

In the example above, you are able to see that Margot is a shy student that is different from the rest, since she remembers the sun. As well it tells us that William is a jealous boy because, Margot knows much about the sun, unlike any other child, and when Margot does assignments better than William, he gets jealous and starts to be against Margot and her ideas.

Ray Bradbury also makes a great use of imagery, in the story, All Summer in a Day, making you imagine the story in your head, and also makes you feel there. An example of a good imagery use is when the sun comes out,

"It was the color of flaming bronze and it was very large. And the sky around it was a blazing blue tile color. And the jungle burned with sunlight as the children, released from their spell, rushed out, yelling into the springtime “(3)

In the quote above, Ray Bradbury, makes us imagine how bright and clear is the sun using the words "flaming bronze". Also, using the comparison of "…as the children, released from their spell, rushed out…" makes it easier to understand, since you imagine children being freed and running into "spring" and being in splendor because of the sun. You are also able to feel as if you were there.

All Summer in a Day is a very strong story about bulling and consideration towards other people. The theme of this story makes people realize how bullying is able to affect other people´s live. I think that Margot felt very frustrated because she was expecting the sun to come out for so long and finally the moment came and Margot by her classmates joke wasn’t able to see the sun, and worst, the sun comes out only for one hour every seven years. In conclusion I think All Summer in a Day is a story that shows us how cruel a person can be, and this can have huge consequences in other people´s life. 

All or Nothing

An unscheduled holiday was held and Jonas went to visit his friend Asher, and he saw that Asher was pretending a shooting with his hand pointing as a gun, playing with kids in the community. Jonas was shocked and tried to explain Asher that this was not good, Jonas was remembering the horror of the war and he was trying to explain this to Asher but he did not want to listen. Jonas realized that in the community the feelings were unreal, also things like the slender instrument his father brought home to use it when Gabriel misbehave, or most important when Jonas saw his father ending the twin life with a syringe. The Giver talked about what had happened 10 years ago; about Rosemary the last receiver, before Jonas, all her attributes and how special she was for The Giver and how suddenly she stops being the receiver. Rosemary asked to be released since she felt the sadness, poverty and depress feelings that The Giver gave her in the memories; she couldn’t handle it. But she was really strong and she decided to release herself by putting the syringe by her own. The Giver saw a hope in Jonas to change all the bad things that were happening in the community, so they built a plan, were Jonas escape, in this way his memories will be burden by the community and with The Giver’s help they can manage them. Everything was well planned for the big day; they were going to do this on the December Ceremony. 

The quote of the book that really took my attention is the one when Jonas replied to The Giver about the memories:

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” (Lowry, 154)

I feel that this is very real. I think sharing memories builds relationships, also to share a memory for example a bad one, like a loss, when you share that  memory people surrounding you can help you pass through that moment and also relieves your pain, or supports you.   To share a memory is to “relive” the moment making people feel what you felt in that moment and making them experience on what you lived. I also think that if you don’t share your memories is like living so lonely and have a very sad life. Memories are what you are, and sharing them is sharing you’re the person you are.  

And also the following quote took my attention because it is related to the feelings, something really important in people’s lives:

“It’s true that it has been this way for what seems forever. But the memories tell us that it has not always been. People felt things once….” (Lowry, 154)

 Feelings are basics in human beings. If we don’t have feelings, then everything would be the same, like we would be living in neutral, there is no life, no happiness, no joy no sadness, no excitement, no nothing, like robots, or like in the book, black and white. Feelings give you life, make everything happens, for good or for bad, feelings determine our lives. It is a reflection of how you are.

In these chapters the author is taking us to the climax of the story, when we realized that ‘release’ means death.  It was very shocking for me because I really thought that ‘release’ was a physical trespass to another region out of the community; sometimes I thought it was a good thing for example when the elders felt happy about it or a bad thing when the little ones like babies with poor weight or any child misbehave or adult not following the rules was punished with a release. I can now understand many things in the book and in life itself; and also realize the importance of a lot of things in my personal life, like feelings, the importance of nature, where memories are made and the importance of sharing them, the “freedom” that we live today, not controlled by anyone, the love and care of a family, and most important, the identity, who we are, unique persons.