All Summer In A Day

The sun is a common but multifaceted symbol in literature; the role it plays in sustaining life associates it with ideas of vitality and rebirth, while its light and warmth evoke knowledge and love or kindness, respectively. Bradbury draws on this tradition in “All Summer in a Day,” depicting the sun as both literally and figuratively life-giving. As soon as the children step out into the sun, they become more animated and energetic, as though strengthened by its heat and light: “[T]he jungle burned with sunlight as the children, released from their spell, rushed out, yelling, into the summer-time” (Paragraph 55). Just as important as this physical transformation, however, is the emotional or spiritual awakening the children experience while playing in the sun; they return with a more complete understanding of the potential joy and richness of life and with increased empathy for Margot, whose longing for the sun they now understand.

Color—or the lack of it—is a prominent motif in “All Summer in a Day.” Without sunlight, life on Venus is quite literally colorless; Margot, for instance, is “washed out” and pale from years of living indoors. The natural world has suffered similarly; the jungle, though abundant, is a grayish white color that Bradbury suggests is both unnatural and unhealthy, comparing it to “rubber and ash” (Paragraph 60).