The Life of Bradbury

Drew Maler

Lawson

English 1301-7th period April 18 2017

The Life of Bradbury

The “Roaring Twenties” a profound decade in American history, gave the American people

plenty of new technology such as the start of Henry Ford’s automobile company, silent movies, and the radio. The twenties was a time of tension between the people of America and the American government, caused by outrageous acts such as prohibition. The issue of immigration grew as an increasing number of people wanted to migrate to America. The fear Hitler and countries pushing for communism was slowly eating away at the economy. Everyone was panicking and the stock market crashing on October 29, 1929 did not help with anything it left people starving, without jobs, and on the streets begging for money. After WWI a large amount of soldiers were left unemployed and with America slowly being torn apart Americans realized that Americas only chance was to enter WWII and save the great nation. Ray Bradbury one of the most memorable sci-fi authors of our time was one of the American citizens who lived in the 1920's and experienced the second World War and the Great Depression in America. The ugly in the world was seen by Bradbury and changed his outlook on life. As a new writer, Ray viewed much of the craziness in the world and it was shown in his writing. Bradbury grew up in a horrible, gruesome, and grim part of history. Ray Bradbury's writing reflects the era he grew up in, and shows the struggles of other Americans and in his own life.

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Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, on August 22, 1920. His mother and father moved to the United States with his twin brother who drowned in a lake. The movie industry grabbed Ray’s attention when he was a child. But he found another passion when his aunt Neva Bradbury, a costume designer, showed Ray the poet Edgar Allan Poe. Bradbury’s family moved to Los Angeles, California after a failed attempt to find work in Arizona. He went to school at Los Angeles High School and joined a science fiction writing club. After Ray graduated high school he found a job at a theatre club then became a newsboy with hopes that it would make enough money to support his writing. Due to his subpar vision Bradbury was not allowed to join WWII which then gave him the opportunity to start his writing career. He began publishing some of his stories in the 1940’s and with time they began to appear in newspapers and such.

With his new wealth he was able to wed the beautiful Marguerite Susan McClure, she was an english professor at the University of California. The couple had for lovely children, which all coincidentally were girls. Ray’s career peeked in 1951 when Fahrenheit 451 was published. All of his achievements were due to his effective system of only working a few hours a day this helped him create over 30 books and 300 short stories. Not long after Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury Theater became a new television series. In the 60’s-70’s he did a outrageous number of scripts for television he decided to set his focus on poems, plays, and essays.

As a teenager he always thought of being in films. The extravagant lives of A-list actors made him want to pursue an acting career. Bradbury was in many plays in high school, but his teachers had seen his real talent before he himself did. They encouraged him joined many clubs dedicated to poetry, literature, and play writing. A college degree was not an option for Ray with the great

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depression and all. He was unable to work anywhere else except for the library. Ray’s ideas grew from his imagination which he then made into published books. With hard work he succeeded. Newspapers published his stories and they sank into the minds of every reader. With the unending ideas, he was an unstoppable force. Ray Bradbury’s Dark Carnival was the first book of short stories he created. It was an instant success and became a best seller which then earned him a job at a newspaper company as a writer.

In his youth and throughout his adult life Ray’s imagination and creativity was abundant. In a tornado of imagination and hardship Ray built his stories into a pandemic experience to inspire every single being. At only twelve he read adult books of escape and adventure which inspired his writing of The Martian Chronicles.

Ray Bradbury’s quest to become and actor and famous author continued. In many of books like “ The Last Night of the World”, he portrays the what-if factor, the factor being that everything is achievable. This short story which took place in 1951, in a small town, the townsfolk all dream the same dream that the world will come to an end. A lot of arguing occurs but strangely enough no one is freaking out about it. A few people believe it is a punishment for their sins and others are saying that it is just time for it to happen. Before the world comes to an end people spent time with their friends and families and say their I love you’s and goodbyes before the world abruptly comes to an end. Throughout the story, "The Last Night of the World”, Bradbury shows his readers the theme of unknowing, not because of when the world will end, but how they act when they perish as a family. Throughout the entire story the characters realize how they should treat people even if the world weren’t to end. Ray’s style in this story is a very

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different structure based on mystery and suspense, but the characters go