In The Martial Chronicals, Ray Bradbury provides a glimpse into the
future that not only looks at
people from a
technological standpoint, but from a human one as well. His well crafted, almost poetic
stories are
science fiction in setting only. They
put much more emphasis on the apathy and
inhumanity of
modern society, rather than the technology. (Bryfonski, 68)
Ray Dougless Bradbury was born on August
22, 1920 to Leonard Spaulding and Ester Bradbury in
Waukegan,
Illinois. He began his writing at the
young age of twelve, mostly for his own amusement.
His fantastic
sytle of writing was developed during this time as he read the Oz books, Alice in
Wonderland,
Tarzan, Grimms' Fairy Tales, and the works of Poe. In 1934 his family moved to Los
Angeles, where
Bradbury attended high school and joined the Los Angeles Science-Fantasy
Society.
While a member,
Bradbury published four issues of his own magazine, Futuria Fantasia. After
graduating from
high school in 1938 he took various jobs which allowed him to devote much of
his
time to
writing. His first story, published in
1940 by Script magazine, was "It's
Not the Heat, It's the
Hu" and
established Bradbury's popular theme of social irritation. By 1942, Bradbury was able to
earn enough money
writing that he could give up his job selling newspapers and devote all of his
time
to what he loved.
(Candee 88)
As some critics would agree, the term
"science-fiction" does not apply to Bradbury's work. Most
of his stories
are more along the lines of fantasy with an intense understanding of human
nature. In
"The Green
Morning", a man named Benjamin Driscoll arives on Mars looking for a job
and a way to
fit in. Before long, however, he faints, as many
people do, because of the thin air of Mars.
Upon
waking, the first
thing he notices is the lack of trees on the Martian plains. He decides that his job
should be to
plant trees. He works for weeks planting
trees of all kinds across the Martian
countryside but
the lack of rain leads him to believe that all of his efforts are in vain. That night the
rains come, and
when Driscoll awakens the next morning, he finds a Mars covered with trees over
six
feet tall,
"nourished by alien and magical soil"(Bradbury 77), and producing a
"mountain
river"(Bradbury
77) of new air. As Bradbury says,
"Science fiction is really sociological studies of the
future, things
that the writer believes are going to happen by putting two and two
together...Fantasy
fiction is the
improbable" (Candee 88). Quite
obvioulsy, that story is not very probable and should not
be classified as
science-fictioin.
Another exaple of such an improbable story lies
in the chapter entitled "YLLA".
Bradbury
goes to great
lengths in this chapter to discribe the Martian setting using fastastic imagry
such as
crystal pillar
houses, golden fruits growing from the walls, and martians with light brown
skin and
golden eyes. At one point he even mentions the "flame
birds" that the martians use for transportation.
Even the martian
names in his stories are unbelievable.
He uses names such as Mr. K, Mr. Xxx, Mr
Iii, etc and
doesn't even bother making them realistic.
But for Bradbury's "purposes the trappings of
science fiction
are sufficient--mere stage settings" (Riley 43). He uses his sci-fi/fantasy settings as a
medium to express
human behaviors and shortcomings.
In the stories of The Martian Chronicals,
Bradbury is never hesitant to critisize mankind and our
"misapplication
of science to avaricious ends" (Bryfonski 68). In the chapter called "-And the Moon
be Still as
Bright", Bradbury details the arrival of the fourth expedition of men from
earth and their
discovery of a
dead planet as a result of diseases transmitted from previous expeditions. A man
named Spender was
the sole voice of opposition against all of the disrespect shown by his crew
members toward
the once noble race of Martians. While
many of the men are getting drunk and
partying, Spender
is grieving and appealling to his captain, who can do nothing. Spender is pushed
over the edge
when a drunk named Biggs gets sick in the middle of one of the most beautiful
cities of
Mars. Spender is so offened that he disappears into
the Martian hills and does not return for two
weeks. When he does return, he goes on a murderous
rampage, first killing Biggs, and then four of
his fellow crew
members. Through Spender, Bradbury is
showing his disapproval of mankind's
exploit of other
races by the misapplication of technology. (Bryfonski 68)
Another important aspect of Bradbury's
work in The Martian Chronicals is his
demonstration of
human's
"inability to forget, or at least resist, the past" (Bryfonski
70). When the second expedition of
Earthmen arrive
on Mars, Captain Williams, its arogant leader, expects praise and
congradulation
from the Martians
and is confused when no one takes him seriously. The crew walks from door to
door looking for
someone who will acknowlegde their accomplishment, but no one even seems to
care. The men can't "accept the fact that this
is Mars-a different, unique new land in which they must
be ready to make
personal adjustments"(Bryfonski 70) until after it is too late to do
anything about it.
They are thought
to be insane Martians, who have the ability to project their thoughts, thus
explaining
their
appearance. The only cure, as they are
told, for such insanity, is death.
Shortly after, each crew
member is
executed. Their executer's demise is
also brought about by an inability to forget the past.
He is the
administrator of an insane isylum in which the men are placed. His job is to evaluate and, if
nescessary, kill
insane Martians. After he kills the
Earthmen, he expects their bodies to return to the
"normal"
Martian form. When they do not, he is
convinced that he has become insane and procedes
to kill himself
as well.
Another story with incidents of human
inability to change lies in chapter "The Earth Men", which,
in some ways,
"acts as a metaphor for the book as a whole"(Bryfonski 70). Here, a third expedition of
Earthmen arrive
on Mars, only to find a town not unlike one in the United States in the
mid-1800's.
Upon exiting
their ship they were even more suprised to find people, old friends and
relatives, that had
been dead for
years on Earth. They are told that this
is the place where people come when they die,
and before long
the entire crew abandoneds their ship and reminisces with people from their past.
That night all of
the crew members settle in with their long lost families, and just a little too
late,
Captain John
Black realizes their fatal mistake. The
martians, endowed with the gift of telepathy,
create an
elaborate illusion to fool the humans into vacating their ship and leaving them
defenseless.
As the crew lies
silently in bed, they are murdered by the Martians, thus ending the third
expedtion.
Although Bradbury's style of writing
cannot be considered science fiction, it is a very unique and
an important part
of modern literature. His stories inThe
Martian Chronicles established him as a
serious writer of
science fiction and fantasy and are full of wonderful images, messages, and
truths
about life
(Solomon). "Bradbury's stories are
not an escape from reality; they are windows looking
upon enduring
reality" (Bryfonski 69).
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