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Ray BradburyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
“January 1999: Rocket Summer”
“February 1999: Ylla”
“August 1999: The Summer Night”
“August 1999: The Earth Men”
“March 2000: The Taxpayer”
“April 2000: The Third Expedition”
“June 2001: —And the Moon Be Still as Bright”
“August 2001: The Settlers”
“December 2001: The Green Morning”
“February 2002: The Locusts”
“August 2002: Night Meeting”
“October 2002: The Shore”
“February 2003: Interim”
“April 2003: The Musicians”
“June 2003: Way in the Middle Air”
“2004-2005: The Naming of Names”
“April 2005: Usher II”
“August 2005: The Old Ones”
“September 2005: The Martian”
“November 2005: The Luggage Store”
“November 2005: The Off Season”
“November 2005: The Watchers”
“December 2005: The Silent Towns”
“April 2026: The Long Years”
“August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains”
“October 2026: The Million-Year Picnic”
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
LaFarge and his wife Anna are an elderly couple who retired on Mars. Many years before, on Earth, their 14-year-old son Tom died of pneumonia, and the loss continues to haunt them. One night, LaFarge spots a figure in their yard who resembles Tom, and he leaves the door of their house unlocked should the figure decide to enter.
The next morning, LaFarge finds Tom in the house. Anna is undisturbed by his presence, not even questioning the reappearance of her son. LaFarge questions Tom, but Tom rebuffs answering, only explaining that the night before he sang to LaFarge and Anna, and that “you’ll accept me more because of it” (161). Recognizing his wife’s happiness, LaFarge agrees not to question Tom further.
Tom disappears for the afternoon, and before he returns, LaFarge learns that one of his neighbors, who had left Earth because he killed a man, died by suicide after seeing the man he killed appear on his property. Soon after, Tom returns. Anna, after a happy dinner, insists that the family spend the night in town, despite Tom’s unwillingness to go.
In town, Tom disappears, and when LaFarge goes looking for him, he discovers that Tom has shape shifted into Lavina, the deceased daughter of the Spaulding family.
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