THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES The Martian Chronicles When people first see the title of Ray Bradbury’s book published in 1950, they simply assume that the book neatly fits in the science fiction genre. People who like to read science fiction may be attracted to it, but others who do not like the genre are discouraged from reading it. Even though the novel is set on Mars, the book is much more than a science fiction novel. The novel explores all the negative facets of humanity that the first settlers on Mars take with them and how the darker side of Man affects what could be a better and brighter future for mankind as it begins again on a new planet. Ray Bradbury’s purpose for writing his novel is not to simply entertain the reader. He uses satire to discuss environmental issues, racism, government overregulation, nuclear annihilation, and xenophobia. Even though this novel was first published in 1950, all of the issues that Bradbury brings up in his novel are still relevant today. Think about the topics he wrote about over fifty years ago and answer the questions below. 1. What are some of the most pressing environmental concerns today? 2. What are the most prevalent examples of racism in the news today? 3. What are some examples of the government trying to regulate people’s lives, and what political movement has recently begun to try to counteract this? 4. What countries are possible nuclear threats to the United States? 5. What is a current example of Americans’ xenophobia? Study Guide for The Martian Chronicles “Rocket Summer” 1. What melts the snows? “Ylla” 2. Describe Martians’ appearance. 3. What is ironic about the Marians believing that Earth is incapable of supporting life? “The Summer Night” 4. What is strange about the song and music that the musicians sing and play? “The Earth Men” 5. What likely happens to the First Expedition of Earth men? 6. What do the Martians call their planet? 7. How do the Martians communicate with humans? 8. How is Mrs. Ttt’s reaction to seeing humans for the first time different from what one would expect? 9. Why do the Martians think that Captain Williams and his crew are insane? 10. What is the Martians’ cure for insanity? 11. What does Mr. Xxx expect to happen when he kills the four humans? 12. Why does Mr. Xxx kill himself? 13. What happens to the rocket ship? “The Taxpayer” 14. Why does Pritchard want to leave Earth for Mars? “The Third Expedition” 15. What is strange about the Martian town where the Third Expedition lands? 16. How old is Captain Black? 17. How is Captain Black’s caution on leaving the rocket similar to Odysseus’s episode with the Lotus Eaters? 18. How is David Lustig’s dead relatives able to be on Mars? 19. What happens to the crew of the Third Expedition? “And The Moon Be Still As Bright” 20. What human disease decimates the Martian population? 21. How is the humans’ arrival on Mars similar to the Europeans’ arrival in the New World? 22. How is Spender different from the rest of his crewmates? 23. What movement would Spender most likely be a member of today? 24. Why is Spender trying to kill his entire crew? 25. What does Parkhill do at the end of the chapter that suggests that Spender’s fear about the future are correct? “The Settlers” 26. What causes The Loneliness? “The Green Morning” 27. How is Benjamin Driscoll like a Johnny Appleseed? 28. What surprises Driscoll the next morning after a rain about the trees he planted? “The Locust” 29. Why are settlers compared to locusts? “Night Meeting” 30. Why can’t Tomas and the Martian touch each other or see what the other sees? 31. What is Bradbury trying to say about Tomas and the Martian being from two different cultures and having two different perspectives? “The Shore” 32. What is the second wave of men to Mars like? “The Musicians” 33. Where are human children forbidden to play? 34. What happens to the remains of the Martians who died in the epidemic? “Way in the Middle of the Air” 35. What are the white people surprised and upset about? 36. How does this chapter reflect society as it was when this book was first published in 1950? 37. Why do you think that Bradbury did not envision a better future for African Americans in his futuristic novel? 38. Why do all the African Americans leave for Mars? 39. What is Silly really asking Mr. Teece when he shouts, “What are you goin’ to do night, Mr. Teece?” 40. Explain how publishing this novel took courage for Mr. Bradbury. “The Naming of Names” 41. Where do the humans get their names for their new towns on Mars? “Usher II” 42. What short story by Poe inspires Mr. Stendahl to have a built like the one in the story? 43. Describe Stendahl’s house? 44. What kind of mood does the house create? 45. Why doesn’t the architect know about Poe? 46. According to Stendahl, why did the government burn the books in 1975? 47. What kind of movies and books are the only ones allowed by the government? 48. How does Mr. Garret trick Mr. Stendahl? 49. Why does Stendahl kill all of his guests? 50. In what fashion does Stendahl kill his guests? 51. What happens to Stendahls’ house? “The Martian” 52. Who does the Martian pretend to be? 53. How does the Marian die? 54. Why do Martians wear masks? “The Luggage Store” 55. Why does the owner of the luggage store think people will all want to return to Earth? “The Off Season” 56. What disaster do Sam and Elma witness? “The Watchers” 57. What are the watchers watching? “The Silent Towns” 58. How does Walter know that he isn’t the last person on Mars? 59. How is Walter’s and Genevieve’s first meeting different from what either expects? 60. Why doesn’t Walter answer the phone any more? “The Long Years” 61. Who arrives in the rocket? 62. How is Hathaway’s death similar to Argos’, Odysseus’ dog in The Odyssey? 63. What are Hathaway’s family members? 64. What happened to Hathaway’s real family? “There Will Come Soft Rains” 65. What does the house’s demise symbolize? “The Million Year Picnic” 66. How is Timothy’s family similar to Noah’s in the Bible? 67. Who are the last Martians? 68. How does Bradbury leave the reader optimistic at the end of the book? 69. What adjective would you use to describe the tone of the book? 70. What is the author’s purpose for writing this book? THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES: SUMMARY SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS The over-arching narrative of The Martian Chronicles mirrors established patterns of colonization: that is, it extrapolates the real history of colonization as the basis for the colonization of Mars. Most all of the major symbols and imagery in the book reflect this historical connection. The planet Mars is a symbol rife with multiple meanings throughout the book, and takes on its own unique character. Like other frontiers, it challenges the human spirit with its desolation and forbidding terrain - and thus, it must be "tamed" and shaped into something that humans can live in. And like the "frontier" declared by European conquerors of the Americas, Mars has a history and a previous culture that haunts the colonizers. Martian cities and the specter of Martian culture, then, are an important motif, much in the same way Native American cultures are a motif in stories of the American frontier: a commentary on what has been lost in the conquest of a land and a standing criticism of the conqueror's set of values. The last important symbol are the rockets themselves. From the beginning, they are depicted as fiery beasts that change the landscape around them. In that way, they are the most potent image of the influence colonizers have upon the lands they claim. They also represent how science has outpaced other aspects of human achievement, and thus how technology has become a bludgeon to suppress the finer, more humane aspects of civilization. The rockets that bring settlers are a danger to Martian culture, while the rockets with atomic payloads are themselves a danger to Earthian culture. The destruction of the rocket in "The Million Year Picnic" then stands as a key part in Earthian civilization starting over: it is a refutation of technology and all the ills it brings upon a people. KEY FACTS Title: The Martian Chronicles Author: Ray Bradbury Date Published: 1950 Meaning of the Title: A history of the colonization of Mars by Earth. Setting: Mars primarily, with several stories on Earth. Genre: Science fiction, specifically science fantasy. Protagonist: Earthians colonizing Mars. Antagonist: Mars as a frontier, Martian culture. Mood: Elegiac (a sense of loss or sorrow for the past), often wryly ironic. Point of View: Third person. Tense: Past tense. Rising Action: Earthians send expeditions to Mars for the sake of colonizing the planet, not succeeding until the majority of Martians are killed by Earthian chickenpox. Exposition: Mars is slowly colonized by Earthians, with varying experiences. Climax: Worldwide atomic war takes place on Earth and almost all the colonizers return to Mars to be with family. Earth is cleansed of human civilization in a final burst of self-destructive warfare. Outcome: William Thomas escapes the atomic war and takes his family to Mars to start a new civilization. Major Theme: The process of colonization, mirroring the experiences of past colonizers especially the Europeans in North America. Minor Themes: Human achievement and the vice of hubris, the threat of loneliness, the mechanical routines of modern life. LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING The primary setting of the stories in The Martian Chronicles is Mars. However, it is a Mars borne out of popular imagination more than scientific fact, a reflection of Ray Bradbury's desire for allegorical power over scientific extrapolation. For example, by the time Bradbury wrote his stories of Martian exploration, the scientific belief in canals had fallen out of favor; however, as Bradbury is more a science fantasist than a "hard" science fiction writer (that is, one who adheres strictly to rules and laws established by ), he kept the idea of canals for his stories. Several stories take place on Earth, specifically the United States of America. In The Martian Chronicles, the United States of the late 20th century is powerful and technologically developed enough to send explorers to Mars. CHARACTER LIST Characters in specific stories are listed in the plot summary for each story. Given the allegorical nature of Bradbury's stories, the major "characters" are communities and planets, not actual individuals; under Minor Characters are the individual characters most important to the overall plot's thematic development. Major Characters Earthians of the United States Explore, settle, and colonize Mars. As the Americas were explored and settled by Europeans at the expense of indigenous peoples, so the United States now explores and colonizes the planet Mars in a similar manner. Martians The native beings of Mars, wiped out by chickenpox from Earthian explorers, though a few of their number survive. Mars While not a person, the actual planet and landscape of Mars as a major character in the book: desolate and forbidding to Earthian explorers and settlers, it holds memories of the native Martians in the cities still nestled on its surface. Other Earthians Other nations on Earth, unable to explore and colonize Mars due to war. Earth As the planet whose native inhabitants have the hubris to invade its neighbor, Earth is depicted as a planet that is sick, that needs to renew itself. In a sense, it does exactly that when humanity destroys itself in atomic war and the planet cleanses itself to begin anew. Minor Characters Nathaniel York Captain of the first Earthian expedition. Jonathan Williams Captain of the second expedition. John Black Captain of the third expedition. Wilder Captain of the fourth expedition, his views on Martian colonization led to assignments that took him further out of the solar system. Jeff Spender Archaeologist of the fourth expedition who kills his fellow crewmen to save Mars but is killed himself. He embodies the values of the dead Martians and Martian culture. Hathaway Physician / geologist of the fourth expedition who discovers that chickenpox brought by Earthians killed off the Martians. He's stranded on Mars after the exodus back to Earth. Sam Parkhill Crewman of the fourth expedition who embodies the worst colonizing impulses of the Earthians. His desire to establish a hot dog stand on Mars is only thwarted by the exodus back to Earth when an atomic world war begins. William Thomas Brings his family to Mars right before Earthians destroy themselves in worldwide atomic war. PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS The book is obviously designed as a series of short stories tied together by the same theme and over-arching narrative arc: the exploration and colonization of Mars by people from Earth. The very title - using the word "chronicle" in a classic sense - makes the story's scope broadly historical rather than one concerned primarily with individual lives and achievements. This works towards Bradbury's strengths as a writer, as he uses science fiction tropes for allegories on human nature. The main hazard of such a collection is a lack of coherence between the different stories, that the unity among the pieces wouldn't be as strong as the author or readers would wish. Indeed, there are certain stories that did not satisfy Bradbury as a good fit for The Martian Chronicles, notably "Up in the Air" and "Usher II" - more for their lack of thematic congruity than anything else. That said, the use of vignettes or "bridges" as transitions between different phases of Mars' colonization by Earth serves to better tie together the short stories, giving them coherence both in plot and in theme. Thematically, these vignettes often take place from a community perspective: that is, a feeling or intuition that runs across a wide swath of people, a general opinion more than a specific point of view. (The main exception is "The Taxpayer", though the very title generalizes the vignette's sentiment in a similar manner.) THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS Bradbury takes different themes in the course of The Martian Chronicles and develops it from different angles: the perspective on loneliness in "The Silent Towns" is quite different from that in "The Long Years", which in turn has a different take on the routines of daily life from that of "There Will Come Soft Rains". In this manner, Bradbury makes full use of the fractured nature of the short story collection format, playing with different perspectives to give a fuller sense of what human nature is capable. The main theme is that of colonization, and on the face of it Bradbury is highly critical of the project both in his story and in its real-life historical basis, the European conquest of the Americas. In the name of greed and power, one race stamps out another and in doing so corrupts a planet. Bradbury seems to consider such actions typical of human progress, of what happens when certain aspects of culture - science especially, but also economic concerns - outpaces other aspects, such as art and spirituality. However, there is also a positive aspect to the human spirit, one that emphasizes exploration as opposed to colonization: from this angle, Mars is like other lands for émigrés, providing a chance for fresh starts and pastures new. This is especially clear in "The Million Year Picnic", where a family escapes a war-ravaged Earth and declares themselves Martians - much in the same way families fled war-ravaged Europe and declared themselves Americans when settling in the United States. ESSAY TOPICS 1. How would the stories of The Martian Chronicles be different if they adhered more stringently to actual scientific findings? Choose two or three major stories as specific examples. 2. Create a timeline of events on Earth based on the dates in the chapters. How does the reality timeline differ from Bradbury’s? 3. Look at one of the two stories later omitted from the British edition of the book - "Up in the Air" and "Usher II" - and explain why they may not fit in as well as other stories in the collection. What do they contribute to the collection that is productive? How do they detract? Was it ultimately correct to omit these stories? 4. Examine the use of humor in Bradbury's writing. What kinds of humor does he employ most often, and what does that tell us of his view on human nature? Consider how humor is used to leaven the seriousness of a situation, as in "The Earth Men" and "The Silent Towns". 5. How credible is the notion that people will return to a war-ravaged earth when it is threatened by world war? What assumptions does Bradbury make with such a premise, and how true do they hold today? 6. Consider how the term "Martian" has a different connotation for different people in the book. What does this tell us about the nature of identity, especially in relation to political and cultural loyalties? 7. Explore how Mars works as a character in its own right. If you were to describe it as a personality in the book, what kind of attributes would it have and how would it contrast to Earth as a presence in the book? 8. What do we learn about native Martian culture from these stories? How are they a reflection of other indigenous peoples who suffered at the hands of colonization? Draw specific analogies where possible. Short Homework Assignments Assignment #1 Find a quote from The Martian Chronicles that illustrates the theme of the novel and put it in a single-slide PowerPoint presentation. Be sure to use parenthetical citation at the end of your quote to cite your source. After the quote, explain the quote’s importance and how it illustrates a theme in the novel. Be sure that the entire class can easily see all of the text. Next, insert at least two pictures that illustrate the quote or the theme of the book. Finally, include a Works Cited entry at the bottom of your slide if space is available or on a second slide if not. The Works Cited entry may be smaller than the rest of the text but still needs to be large enough for the class to see. After you have completed your project, email me your presentation as an attachment in an email to the following address: allen_murphy@gwinnett.k12.ga.us. Be sure to put your name and class period in the subject line of the email. You may include animation or sound effects as long as they contribute to the project and not distract the viewer. Do not include these things simply to have them in your presentation. If you do not know how to create a PowerPoint presentation or cannot create a PowerPoint Presentation, you may put all of the above information on a large poster board and bring it to present in class. Assignment #2 Summarize one of the chapters in the novel from a Martian’s perspective. Be sure to tell the story as it relates to one of the themes in the book. Type the summary on a piece of paper and bring it to school to read to class and turn in to me. Think of how Native Americans might have told events differently about the Europeans’ arrival in the New World rather than the way the Europeans wrote history. Assignment #3 Create two timelines: one with the dates from the book detailing fictional events that occur and another one with dates depicting real events. For dates on the real timeline that have not occurred, list things that a reasonable person would expect to happen by those dates. You may put these two timelines in a PowerPoint presentation or large poster board. Include at least four pictures that represent events in the two timelines.