Rain, Rain, Go Away

During the families’ excursion to the amusement park, the Sakkaro boy carries an aneroid barometer, which symbolizes the Sakkaros’ attempts to know the weather ahead of time and thematically represents their Fear of the Unknown. The Sakkaro boy runs to the car, waving the barometer like a talisman that will protect them from unexpected rain. When he “pipe[s] up that the barometer [is] falling” (133), it parallels the rising anxieties of the Sakkaros along with the probability of rain. In this way, the rising and falling of the barometer is a metaphor for the Sakkaros’ confidence about the weather and their own safety; it operates in reverse of their confidence, falling as their confidence drops.

In addition, the barometer also connects to Asimov’s interest in the ways that humans use and rely on technology to improve their lives and the imperfect science of doing so. It suggests that while technology can be a valuable tool, it’s no match for human observation and perhaps basic human decency. Had the Wrights heeded their neighbors’ fears instead of trying to convince them to stay, they might have arrived home on time.

The Sakkaros’ and the Wrights’ names serve multiple functions beyond motif—as puns, as foreshadowing, as symbols. They also connect to Asimov’s lifelong interest in the weight of names and what they reveal about people’s personal or collective history. Notably, because “Sakkaro” is based on a corporate name for an artificial sweetener, the family has no cultural history that the Wrights might recognize.

Sakkaro is a play on the word “saccharin,” which is a sugar substitute, or “saccharine,” which means excessively sweet. References to sweetness and candy in connection with the Sakkaros abound throughout the text and extend into their own motif, from Mrs. Wright’s comment that Mrs. Sakkaro is “sweet as she could be” (129) to the Sakkaros’ appalling love of cotton candy and their ultimate demise. Tellingly, Asimov’s descriptions of the cotton candy and the Sakkaros uses similar language: The food “melted sweetly in the mouth and left one feeling sticky” (132); the family “sank into three sticky-wet heaps” (133). These references foreshadow the story’s ending and symbolize something deeper about the Sakkaros: Like the cotton candy, which provides the temporary satisfaction of a treat rather than the lasting benefits of a nutritious meal, they’re alluring and beautiful in appearance but frothy and superficial, lacking real substance.

The name Wright is another obvious pun, suggesting that everything about the family is right, or correct. This represents the way they see themselves: They’re living their lives the “right” way, and they’re right to be suspicious of their neighbors. The name is also a play on Mr. Wright’s profession and the idea that the Wright family is exactly what they appear to be. Lillian says, “You stay home and write. What does he do?” (127). The name Wright builds a contrast between the two husbands and labels the family’s values alongside Mr. Wright’s profession, which is his identity in 1950s society. In addition, the name foreshadows Lillian’s sense of vindication at the story’s end, her feeling that she was right to be suspicious of her odd new neighbors.

In addition, the amusement park name Murphy’s Park (which would likely derive from a family name) is a pun on Murphy’s Law, which states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. This name, like the Sakkaro family name, foreshadows that the story will end in disaster.