Pillar of Fire

"Pillar of Fire" by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction novella that explores unsettling themes of death and existence in a future that has rejected mortality. The plot centers around William Lantry, a man resurrected into a world where death is obsolete; where the dead are cremated and forgotten. Driven by animosity and a longing for kinship, Lantry attempts to carve a place for himself in this sterile world, but his desire to resurrect the dead falls flat as he discovers he is the only one that believes in it. As Lantry struggles to reclaim the concept of death, he grapples with the fact that he is the last dead man in a time that has no place for him or his views.