MC from Bethany Smith

In The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, Mars is colonized in a very similar way to the way North America was colonized by the Europeans. The colonizer’s superior technology gave them many advantages over the Natives. They were a far more advanced group. This was the same when the Europeans first came to North America. Their superior farming techniques and naval skills gave them many advantages over the Native Americans. Both the Europeans and the Earth men underestimated the Natives in their “New World”. This made them both very vulnerable. In The Martian Chronicles the colonizers are attacked and fooled countless times by the Natives because they were caught off guard by the Natives’ intellect and talents. The Europeans also underestimated their opponents and therefore suffered many violent attacks. Like when the Europeans brought their own farming techniques to America, the Earth men brought their ideas to mars. One man, Benjamin Driscoll, decided to plant trees on Mars to make it more like his home, rather than adapting to the natural environment. In the end both the colonizers’ and natives’ lives were changed forever. In both cases the colonizers seem to be glad they came.