The Illustrated Man

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. A bill ordering more Sun Domes is stymied in Congress, though the Sun Domes are vital to the mental health of the soldiers. The men are excited to finally find one of the Domes, only to realize it has been destroyed. Simmons suggests the native Venusians had attacked it and dragged its inhabitants into the sea.

The incessant rain reminds Pickard of a childhood bully who would not stop pinching him; Pickard had eventually attacked and almost killed the boy. Simmons and the lieutenant are increasingly concerned about Pickard’s state of mind. The men try to rest, propped up so the water stays out of their mouths, but the crawling plants and pounding rain will not allow it. Suddenly, Pickard leaps up and begins shooting his gun into the sky; the gunfire illuminates the raindrops. Then he goes still and unresponsive, mouth upturned to the sky. Simmons tells the lieutenant that Pickard is insane and will breathe water until he drowns. He shoots him as a mercy killing.

Simmons and the lieutenant continue until Simmons tells him that his ears no longer work; the rain has wholly numbed his body. Though the lieutenant begs Simmons to press on, Simmons refuses: “I’m not crazy yet,” he says, “but I’m the next thing to it” (93). He prefers committing suicide to going insane. The lieutenant continues alone; the rain drowns out the gunshot.

The story ends with the lieutenant finding the second Sun Dome and its many comforts. He strips his wet clothes, walking towards the light of the sun.