Usually people have the self-realization moments when something tragic happens. Tragic times are when people tend to evaluate themselves. It is very true in the short story called The Last Night of the World written by Ray Bradbury.
This short story is basically about a husband and wife talking to each other when they realized that they only have one night left until the world ends. But to the surprise they were not in a panic mood at all. In fact, they decided to go through the night just like any other nights. But before they went to sleep, they evaluated themselves. They talked to each other about if they were good or bad. I think even though they were not in a total panic about the end of the world, they were still worried about what happens after the world ends. One can see clearly the self-realization moment when the wife says, " We've been good to each other, anyway." ( Bradbury, 116). This one sentence carry out the theme of self-knowledge in this particular short story. Since they were good to each other, they did not have any guilty feelings as they were approaching the end of the world. That could be the reason why they went through that night just like any other nights and did not panic. We can see that the wife even went to the kitchen because she left the water running in the sink ( Bradbury, 116). This explains that they treated that day just like any other. " The last night is spent living a normal life, with a quiet goodbye at the end." ( Prewett).
This short story is basically about a husband and wife talking to each other when they realized that they only have one night left until the world ends. But to the surprise they were not in a panic mood at all. In fact, they decided to go through the night just like any other nights. But before they went to sleep, they evaluated themselves. They talked to each other about if they were good or bad. I think even though they were not in a total panic about the end of the world, they were still worried about what happens after the world ends. One can see clearly the self-realization moment when the wife says, " We've been good to each other, anyway." ( Bradbury, 116). This one sentence carry out the theme of self-knowledge in this particular short story. Since they were good to each other, they did not have any guilty feelings as they were approaching the end of the world. That could be the reason why they went through that night just like any other nights and did not panic. We can see that the wife even went to the kitchen because she left the water running in the sink ( Bradbury, 116). This explains that they treated that day just like any other. " The last night is spent living a normal life, with a quiet goodbye at the end." ( Prewett).