The Sun Will Shine

 Author's Note: This is a piece I wrote in response to the short story All Summer in a Day. The short story is placed in the future where people can live on Venus, no matter how badly it affects them and their behavior.

A proportion of rain to sunlight: seven years to two hours. Sadly, this is the life people in the short story All Summer in a Day have to live. One girl, Margot, was the only one who recalled the sun and the rays it gave off. Living on the planet Venus, Margot is going through depression in this book; the bullies and the teacher did not help.

Margot is faced with depression. There are many elements that are provoke her distress. Primarily, this was caused by moving from Earth to Venus. The Earth we live on takes in lots of sunlight daily, which is healthy for the body. Whereas, Venus shows the sun every seven years for about two hours. It was a dramatic adjustment that Margot had to make. Her loss of vitamin D was overwhelming when she moved to Venus. Without the Sun, there is a very high possibility of getting depression. For example, during the winter season, people do not receive enough sunlight. Therefore, they may have to tollerate seasonal affective disorder; also known as SAD. Amid the winter, days are shorter; light lessens. SAD mostly arises to people who are sensitive to light, or the shortage of it. 

Although lack of sunlight is a major factor in Margot’s depression, the bullies play a tremendous roll too. The offender, William, was very heartless towards Margot. For god’s sake, he locked her in a closet when the sun was predicted to reappear! Not a soul in that room wanted to ruffle his feathers and get caught up into being bullied along with her; so the students watched as William tormented poor, melancholy, Margot.

Considering the bullies in this story, don’t forget the character the teacher is. The teacher was a bully within herself. She left the classroom for who knows what. William took advantage of the time when she was gone and bullied Margot around. Afterwards, when Margot was surrounded by closet walls, the teacher went on with what she thought was her whole class to see the Sun. What she should’ve done, as a responsible teacher, is go through her class list and be sure that all of her students are with her. This teacher contributed to the bulling. 

In the short story All Summer in a Day, Margot suffered through depression on behalf of the tormenters and teachers at her school. Unquestionably, there is a way for teachers to contribute to the bullying. Not only the bullying is a problem, but bear in mind the lack of sunlight and how it is a major factor as well. To grasp the joy the Sun gives us take five to ten minutes out of your day to read the phenomenal short story: All Summer in a Day.