All Summer in a Day (Bradbury)
Short Summary
Venus, future era. On a planet where rain fell continuously for seven years, a class of nine-year-old children awaited a rare two-hour appearance of the sun.
Among them was Margot, who had moved from Earth five years ago and could still remember the sun, unlike her classmates who had lived on Venus their entire lives. The other children resented her for her memories and her different nature.
They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door
When the sun was about to appear, the children locked Margot in a closet. For the next two hours, they experienced the sun's warmth and beauty, running, playing, and savoring every moment in the jungle of Venus. When the rain returned, they remembered Margot. Filled with guilt and shame, they walked slowly to free her from the closet, where she had missed the sun's only appearance for the next seven years.
Detailed Summary
Division of the summary into chapters is editorial.
Life on Rainy Venus
On Venus, a group of schoolchildren eagerly awaited a rare event - the appearance of the sun. Their world had been dominated by constant rainfall for seven years.
It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers
Margot's Isolation
Among the nine-year-old students was Margot, who stood apart from her classmates.
She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair
Unlike her classmates, Margot remembered the sun from her early childhood in Ohio. Her memories and different nature made her an outcast. The children, led by William, resented her for her memories and her possible return to Earth.
The Sun's Brief Appearance
Just before the predicted appearance of the sun, the children, led by William, locked Margot in a closet. Their teacher arrived, unaware of Margot's absence.
When the rain stopped, the children rushed outside to experience their first sunshine.
The sun came 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 rushed out
For two hours, they played in the warmth of the sun, running through the jungle and savoring every moment of the precious sunlight. They explored the transformed landscape until a single raindrop fell, signaling the sun's departure.
Aftermath and Realization
As the rain returned and darkness fell, the children remembered Margot, still locked in the closet.
They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor. They looked at each other and then looked away. They glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining steadily
Filled with guilt and shame, they walked slowly to free her from the closet. Their faces were solemn and pale as they approached the door, unable to meet each other's eyes.
Behind the closet door was only silence. They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out
The story ended with Margot's release, leaving the profound impact of their cruelty hanging in the air as the rain continued its endless fall. The children had experienced their brief moment in the sun, but at the cost of denying it to the one person who had treasured its memory most.