84 pages 2 hours read

Ray Bradbury

The Illustrated Man

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1951

A 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.

Story 6

Story 6 Summary: “The Long Rain”

On Venus, the rain continues. Four men—Simmons, Pickard, an unnamed lieutenant, and a fourth man—are searching for a Sun Dome, a human-made hothouse warmed by a mini sun. They have already been on Venus for 30 days after their rocket crashed. The nonstop rain has leeched the color from their uniforms, skin, and even their eyes and hair. The jungle, too, is bleached white.

As their food situation becomes more desperate, they somehow end up back at the ship where they had started, possibly because electricity had interfered with their compasses. Plants have already covered the corpses their dead shipmates. A “monster” arrives (80)—the electrical storm itself, walking on lightning bolt legs. The lieutenant orders everyone to lie flat on the ground, but the fourth unnamed man tries to flee and is killed. Still, Pickard, Simmons, and the lieutenant try to help him—“the natural act of men who have not accepted death until they have touched it and turned it over”—(85) but he is beyond saving. Bradbury describes his corpse in graphic detail. The survivors watch vegetation overtake it.

The men reach the edge of the Single Sea. There are 126 Sun Domes on Venus; the lieutenant believes there are two nearby.

Related Titles

By Ray Bradbury

Plot Summary

logo

A Graveyard for Lunatics

Ray Bradbury

A Graveyard for Lunatics

Ray Bradbury

Study Guide

logo

All Summer In A Day

Ray Bradbury

All Summer In A Day

Ray Bradbury

Study Guide

logo

Dandelion Wine

Ray Bradbury

Dandelion Wine

Ray Bradbury

Study Guide

logo

Dark They Were, and Golden Eyed

Ray Bradbury

Dark They Were, and Golden Eyed

Ray Bradbury

Plot Summary

logo

Death is a Lonely Business

Ray Bradbury

Death is a Lonely Business

Ray Bradbury

Study Guide

logo

Marionettes, Inc.

Ray Bradbury

Marionettes, Inc.

Ray Bradbury

Plot Summary

logo

Selected from Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed

Ray Bradbury

Selected from Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed

Ray Bradbury

Study Guide

logo

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Ray Bradbury

Study Guide

logo

The Halloween Tree

Ray Bradbury

The Halloween Tree

Ray Bradbury

Study Guide

logo

The Other Foot

Ray Bradbury

The Other Foot

Ray Bradbury

Study Guide

logo

The Pedestrian

Ray Bradbury

The Pedestrian: A Fantasy in One Act

Ray Bradbury

Plot Summary

logo

The Toynbee Convector

Ray Bradbury

The Toynbee Convector

Ray Bradbury