In “And We Sold the Rain,” Carmen Naranjo emphasizes water as a source that causes contempt, happiness, and lastly, exile; through this, the people’s relationship with water comes to symbolize a fraught relationship people have with nature under capitalism. The first mention of rain happens when the people complain that “they raise our water bills but don’t give us any water even though it rains everyday” (Naranjo 149). Rain has yet to become exploited, and (while incredibly sardonically) rain is considered separate from water as a commodity. At this stage, rain (as a representation of nature) is an obstacle, a cause for frustration when “poor people without umbrellas, without a change of clothes, they get drenched” (Naranjo 151). This sentiment is further emphasized when Naranjo writes “[t]he sea of poverty” — the sea, a large water mass, is chosen to represent poverty. However, this soon changes when they sell the rain, and the rain becomes a commodity. For a moment, it seems that they have conquered this cause of annoyance, and “[t]he people smiled. A little less rain would be agreeable to everyone” (Naranjo 154). Furthermore, they are able to profit off their triumph over nature. It is almost smart, until it becomes unsustainable. 

Finally, water becomes the ultimate cause, and aid, of their exile. The rain stops forever, and people are forced to flee — a situation that the real world will perhaps come to sooner than later due to the climate crisis. By their triumph over nature, and the commodification of natural resources, the people have made their home uninhabitable. Like The Lorax, this short story’s hyperbolic situation mirrors one of the real world’s rapid and insatiable consumption of nature that can only lead to exile.