Explain the allusion to Odysseus's dog and how it functions in the story.

Odysseus is prevented from returning home for twenty years--and the entire time, his faithful dog is waiting for him. When he finally returns home and he and the dog are reunited, the elderly dog dies, having staved off death just long enough to see Odysseus one last time. The dog in "There Will Come Soft Rains" is also prevented from being with his loved ones--but in this case, his waiting and searching is in vain, because they are already dead. Once he returns to the house and realizes that they are gone, he dies, his purpose as a "faithful companion" to human beings unfulfilled.