Ray Bradbury | Lecturia

Ray Bradbury: The Dwarf. Summary and analysis

In The Dwarf (1954), Ray Bradbury tells the story of a man with dwarfism who visits the mirror maze at an amusement park every night to reach a secret room where a mirror makes him look tall and elegant. That moment of illusion is his only refuge from a life of humiliation. Aimee, a young woman who works at the park, watches him with sympathy and, upon discovering that he is also a writer, decides to help him by having a mirror just like the one in the park sent to his home. Before the gift arrives, Ralph, the maze’s manager, driven by jealousy and a desire to mock him, replaces the mirror in the park with a distorting one that shrinks and distorts the figure. When the dwarf enters that night expecting to see himself transformed, he is met with a grotesque image that leaves him in shock. He flees in terror and, shortly after, is discovered to have stolen a gun. Aimee, feeling guilty, runs out to look for him.

Ray Bradbury: The Long Years

In “The Long Years,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published on September 15, 1948, in Maclean’s and later collected in The Martian Chronicles (1950), Mr. Hathaway and his family are the only inhabitants of a desolate Mars. Twenty years ago, the Great War on Earth left the red planet a tomb. When Mars was evacuated, Hathaway and his family, who were engaged in archaeological studies in the mountains, were left behind. Since then, they have lived in a state of waiting, hoping for the return of a rocket to take them back to civilization. One day, a light in the sky seems to herald the end of their long wait, offering them renewed hope of rescue and a return home.

Ray Bradbury: Night Meeting

“Night Meeting” is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in 1950 in The Martian Chronicles. Set on Mars, colonized by humans, the story follows Tomás Gómez, an Earth colonist traveling along an old Martian road on his way to a party. On his way, he stops to contemplate the beauty and tranquility of the night landscape. However, his journey takes an unusual turn when he encounters an enigmatic Martian. Although they try to greet each other cordially and communicate, they soon discover that something insurmountable separates them.

Ray Bradbury: The Lake

“The Lake” is a short, moving story by Ray Bradbury, published in May 1944 in Weird Tales magazine. The story follows Harold, a boy who makes his last visit to Lake Michigan before moving to the western United States. During that visit, he wanders away from his mother to remember his friend Tally, who disappeared in the lake a year earlier. Years later, Harold, now an adult and married, returns to the place of his childhood with his wife, unaware that fate has an unsettling and revealing experience in store for him.

Ray Bradbury: The Dragon. Summary and analysis

The Dragon is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in August 1955 in Esquire magazine. The story follows two medieval knights who, in the middle of a desolate wasteland shrouded in darkness, await the arrival of a fearsome dragon that devours solitary travelers. As the night progresses, one of them feels that time in that place is strange, as if the world were trapped in an eternal cycle. With their spears at the ready and fear in their hearts, the warriors prepare to face the creature, unaware of the truth that awaits them.

Ray Bradbury: The Playground. Summary and analysis

The Playground is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in 1952 in the collection The Illustrated Man. The story follows Charles Underhill, a widowed man who, after the death of his wife, becomes obsessed with protecting his son Jim from the dangers of childhood. When his sister Carol decides to take the boy to a playground, Underhill visits him and is horrified by the brutality with which the children play. As his anxiety grows, he faces a disturbing decision that will lead him to question how far he is willing to go to save his son.