The universal theme of Ray Bradbury's story is the double-edged sword of technology: while technology can provide convenience and make important contributions to society, it also can be detrimental and senseless when mismanaged by man, or when it goes awry because of natural forces. In the setting of 2026, technology has added many conveniences to the house, but without the human factor, the house's routine becomes absurd. After the human occupants are removed, the mindlessness of machines, especially the automated kitchen and cleaning mice, becomes apparent.
The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing, attending, in choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly.
Without the reasonable human factor, any technology can go awry. It is only useful when it is kept under control through human consumption and activity, and man supervises this technology with reason. Apparently, however, war has been waged as a nuclear blast has made "five spots of paint" onto the side of the house that once were the former residents. Further, the natural force of fire overpowers the house and consumes it despite the efforts of the mechanical mice and other automated forces that fight to prevent the conflagration.
Clearly, then, two themes emerge from Bradbury's narrative:
1. Technology must be tempered with the reason and controls of the human factor; only then can it be practical and utile.
2. Man cannot always control his own destructive tendencies, nor can humankind and technology ever control natural forces.
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