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The short story “There will come soft rains” and the current global crisis are comparable and seem to have a lot of similarities. With COVID-19, it feels like life has stopped. Daily activities have come to a halt and people are forced to stay inside. Simply going to the grocery store almost feels like a war-zone, filled with panic and fear as people are trying to get in and out as quickly as possible. However, since people are staying inside, the world and nature outside is changing. This is similar to what happens in “There will come soft rains”. In this story, even though mankind has been wiped out because of nuclear warfare, nature continues to presume. For example, China saw blue skies for the first time in many years, after they shut down their factories because of the virus. Even though the world seems to be shut down- nature continues.

Even though COVID has made us feel like the world has stopped, it hasn’t. That is similar to how in this story, despite the fact that the owners of the house have died, the house continues to make the beds, cook dinner, and take out the trash. Life in this house, and in the world continues, despite the fact that no one lives there anymore. Life for us continues as well. It feels like the world is paused, yet we still have to function by working in order to survive.



Another different way that this short story reminds me of the global pandemic is because of one of the major themes shown at the end of the story- humankind’s powerlessness when it comes to nature. For example, in this story, the wind blew down a tree which destroyed the house. In this context, I feel that the virus is comparable to nature. Despite all that everyone has done to stop the spread of COVID, it cannot be completely stopped because we are mostly powerless when it comes to nature.

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