The Last Night of the World

by

Ray Bradbury

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Last Night of the World makes teaching easy.

The Woman / Wife Character Analysis

The woman is one of the story’s protagonists. She leads a quiet suburban life in 1969 with her husband and two daughters, all of whom go unnamed. Like her husband, the woman has an ominous dream about the end of the world. Even though she soon realizes that the other women in the neighborhood had the same exact dream, she outwardly considers it a coincidence. Deep down, however, the woman knows the dream is true, and that the end is fast approaching. Once she finally lets go of her fear and denial, the woman is able to talk openly about the end with her husband and come to terms with it. Like her husband, the woman remains faithful to her routine even in her final hours, as she spends the evening washing dishes, drinking coffee, and watching television. This shows how accepting one’s fate, though frightening, can actually lead to a deep sense of peace and understanding. However, the woman points out that spending the evening “like always” may be part of the reason the world is ending—people have been too concerned about their own lives to care about the terrible things happening on other parts of the globe.

The Woman / Wife Quotes in The Last Night of the World

The The Last Night of the World quotes below are all either spoken by The Woman / Wife or refer to The Woman / Wife. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Fear and Bravery Theme Icon
).
The Last Night of the World Quotes

“What would you do if you knew that this was the last night of the world?”

“What would I do? You mean seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought.”

“Well, better start thinking about it.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 136
Explanation and Analysis:

“Sometimes it frightens me, sometimes I’m not frightened at all but at peace. […] I dreamed that it was all going to be over, and a voice said it was; not any kind of voice I can remember, but a voice anyway, and it said things would stop here on Earth.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:

“Where’s that spirit called self-preservation they talk so much about?”

“I don’t know. You don’t get too excited when you feel things are logical. This is logical. Nothing else but this could have happened from the way we’ve lived.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

“We haven’t been too bad, have we?”

“No, nor enormously good. I suppose that’s the trouble—we haven’t been very much of anything except us, while a big part of the world was busy being lots of quite awful things.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

“Do you know, I won’t miss anything but you and the girls. I never liked cities or my work or anything except you three. I won’t miss a thing except perhaps the change in the weather, and a glass of ice water when it’s hot, and I might miss sleeping.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife, The Girls / Daughters
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

“I wonder what everyone else will do now, this evening, for the next few hours.”

“Go to a show, listen to the radio, watch television, play cards, put the children to bed, go to bed themselves, like always.”

“In a way that’s something to be proud of—like always.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

“Why do you suppose it’s tonight?”

“Because.”

“Why not some other night in the last century, or five centuries ago, or ten?”

“Maybe because it was never October 19, 1969, ever before in history, and now it is and that’s it; because this date means more than any other date ever meant; because it’s the year when things are as they are all over the world and that’s why it’s the end.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

“There are bombers on their schedules both ways across the ocean tonight that’ll never see land.”

“That’s part of the reason why.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

“I wonder […] If the door will be shut all the way, or if it’ll be left just a little ajar so some light comes in.”

“I wonder if the children know.”

“No, of course not.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker), The Girls / Daughters
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

“I left the water running in the sink,” she said.

Something about this was so very funny that he had to laugh.

She laughed with him, knowing what it was that she had done that was funny.

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 140
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Woman / Wife Quotes in The Last Night of the World

The The Last Night of the World quotes below are all either spoken by The Woman / Wife or refer to The Woman / Wife. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Fear and Bravery Theme Icon
).
The Last Night of the World Quotes

“What would you do if you knew that this was the last night of the world?”

“What would I do? You mean seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought.”

“Well, better start thinking about it.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 136
Explanation and Analysis:

“Sometimes it frightens me, sometimes I’m not frightened at all but at peace. […] I dreamed that it was all going to be over, and a voice said it was; not any kind of voice I can remember, but a voice anyway, and it said things would stop here on Earth.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:

“Where’s that spirit called self-preservation they talk so much about?”

“I don’t know. You don’t get too excited when you feel things are logical. This is logical. Nothing else but this could have happened from the way we’ve lived.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

“We haven’t been too bad, have we?”

“No, nor enormously good. I suppose that’s the trouble—we haven’t been very much of anything except us, while a big part of the world was busy being lots of quite awful things.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

“Do you know, I won’t miss anything but you and the girls. I never liked cities or my work or anything except you three. I won’t miss a thing except perhaps the change in the weather, and a glass of ice water when it’s hot, and I might miss sleeping.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife, The Girls / Daughters
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

“I wonder what everyone else will do now, this evening, for the next few hours.”

“Go to a show, listen to the radio, watch television, play cards, put the children to bed, go to bed themselves, like always.”

“In a way that’s something to be proud of—like always.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

“Why do you suppose it’s tonight?”

“Because.”

“Why not some other night in the last century, or five centuries ago, or ten?”

“Maybe because it was never October 19, 1969, ever before in history, and now it is and that’s it; because this date means more than any other date ever meant; because it’s the year when things are as they are all over the world and that’s why it’s the end.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

“There are bombers on their schedules both ways across the ocean tonight that’ll never see land.”

“That’s part of the reason why.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

“I wonder […] If the door will be shut all the way, or if it’ll be left just a little ajar so some light comes in.”

“I wonder if the children know.”

“No, of course not.”

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker), The Girls / Daughters
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

“I left the water running in the sink,” she said.

Something about this was so very funny that he had to laugh.

She laughed with him, knowing what it was that she had done that was funny.

Related Characters: The Man / Husband (speaker), The Woman / Wife (speaker)
Page Number: 140
Explanation and Analysis: