‘All Summer in a Day'

Critical Reading Response

Introduction

‘All Summer in a Day’ gives an account of nine-year-old kids who live on the planet, Venus.  Note that on Venus, the rainy season lasts for seven years and therefore they rarely see the sun. Children have the worst experience due to the rain which has occurred in seven years and therefore they are eagerly waiting for the sun to come out. When these children are in class, they all engage in classroom activities like writing an essay about the sun. The children do not remember the last time they saw the sun. However, Margot, who lived in Ohio but recently migrated to Venus, remembers the sun. Note that the other children only remember how the rain has rained for seven years, but Margot remembers the experience of the beauty of the sun when she lived on the earth. The children feel the pain that Margot can remember the sun, and they also hear rumors that Margot's parents will come for her. For this reason, they show Margot hatred and to make the matter worse, they hide her in a closet and lock her. When the sun appears, Margot remains in the closet as the children enjoy the sun. The major theme that is developed in this story is that jealousy, hatred, and selfish influence people to treat individual from other races as different.

 By viewing the story using a different lens, one can depict a jealousy-based malevolence.  First, it is important to understand that Margot comes from the Earth and therefore, she is different from other children. Note that when doing classroom activities, Margon describes the sun like a flower (Bradbury, 2012). On the other hand, the children remember heavy storms-they cannot talk anything about the sun. However, they develop jealousy, hatred, and cruel actions toward Margot because she can speak of the sun.  In interpreting the text, I believe that the story sheds more light on how people from other races are bullied because of being different (Bradbury, 2012). There is always a group of people or dominant group that bring other people down due to their appearance and personality. Note that in the short story, Margot is the object of harassment and bullying. Similarly, minorities in a dominant culture are the object of discrimination. 

Margot is an outsider, and she is struggling to live in the new world since she cannot find happiness. However, she firmly holds onto her great memories, and she cannot let them go (Bradbury, 2012). Similarly, subordinates groups experience all kind of prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination because of their social difference, but they firmly hold onto their cultural heritage (Apfelbaum et al. 2012). From the short story, it is apparent that people discriminate others for various reasons. For example, whites view themselves as the ‘perfect race', and they see African Americans as fragile and weak. Due to their racial status, the minority are denied opportunities and privileges in social settings such as educational attainment. The negative attitude toward minority makes them suffer from the loneliness, which affects the physical and mental health (Apfelbaum et al. 2012). Note that when the kids realized that Margot has knowledge and experience about the sun, they run away from her and hide her in a closet. Margit lives a lonely life and experience bullying.

 In today's society, minorities are seen as people with lower education, high level of power, and poor health. As a result, they are segregated and experience various disparities such as health disparities and other social inequality. They suffer from loneliness and psychological distress (Apfelbaum et al. 2012). They lack the power to fight back, and they feel they live in a strange world.   However, a valuable lesson learned from the short story is that it is important to realize the pain that minority go through and challenge the cruel actions. To solve the issue of discrimination, society should consider the use of colour blindness (Apfelbaum et al. 2012). This will help the dominant group end discriminate and assimilate other races into their culture. In addition, colour blindness will make them stop judging people on their race and culture and realize human nature and focus on shared humanity.

Conclusion

 The short essay ‘All Summer in a Day' reveals the life in Venus, where children enjoy the sun for only two hours after seven years. As children interact with Margot who came from Earth, they realize that Margot remembers how the sun looks unlike them since they cannot tell anything about the sun. They feel jealousy that Margot can talk about the sun and the jealousy inspires them to mistreat and harass her by locking her in the closet. After reading the story, the message that comes out of the story is how people from different races are discriminated and prejudiced. The children do not want to hear about the precious experienced that Margot is talking about. Similarly, dominant groups do not appreciate the minority's way of doing.  Dominate groups treat minority as poor people due to their skin colour. However, the story gives a solution to the social problem by asserting that in the end, the children experience guilt. To address the race-related issues, the dominant group should realize their negative actions toward minority and challenge those actions. Not that racial conflict makes the minority suffer, and therefore, the dominant group should value the difference and recognize that people who are different can offer valuable things.

 

 

 

 References

 

Apfelbaum, E. P., Norton, M. I., & Sommers, S. R. (2012). Racial color blindness: Emergence, practice, and

implications. Current directions in psychological science, 21(3), 205-209.

 

Bradbury, R. (2012). All summer in a day. Retrieved from:  https://archive.org/stream/RayBradbury-

SummerDay/All%20Summer%20in%20a%20Day%20-%20Ray%20Bradbury_djvu.txt