What is the theme in the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains”?

A truly horrifying look at the aftermath of a nuclear war. The sole survivor seems to be the poor starving and diseased dog. The house, automated, continues telling the time and anniversaries, but none except the dying dog is there to hear. As depressing as it was, it had a tremendous impact on me, so that 40 years after I read it, when the Navy wanted to base nuclear weapons within less than a mile of my home (at a base the 9/11 terrorists had on their list of potential targets), I organized the opposition, which ultimately convinced the Navy not to build the base.

Explanation:

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)

the characters in string all have major secrets that they strive to avoid revealing throughout the play.