MC from Carrie Benedict

The Humans on Mars

By: Carrie Benedict

          In The Martian Chronicles, Bradburry combines dramatic essays and stories throughout this interesting science-fiction book to paint a picture of the reality of human behavior. The Martians and the idea of settling Mars may not be realistic, but the idea of humans destroying resources and other peoples culture is  very common pattern in the world’s history. Perhaps the most famous example, and also the most relatable to this story, was when the Europeans first started settling the Americas. They brought with them Their names and their culture and their destructive and chaotic habits, with no regard to the former inhabitants of the land. They almost completely destroyed the native Americans with their diseases and weapons. The Americans in the book  acted much the same way as they settled Mars, and destroyed this clever race with chicken pox, and also ruined their cities by sheer clumsiness and pleasure. Bradburry observes many different perspectives of human behavior, by writing the different excerpts from many different points of  view. Seeing the story unfold by Martians, Captains, Crew members, people still on Earth, and in third person added to the understanding of the book as a whole. The writing grasps the drama of every event in the story, from the cleverness of the Martians as they killed off the first few groups of Earth men, to their tragic demise, to watching the Americans leave as quickly as they came. Not all the Americans that came to Mars, were destructive, some understood the beauty of the culture. Bradburry questions how two different worlds can be so close yet separated by so much, in the chapter where a lone rider meats the Martian but they don’t see each other’s cities. He also give hope for the human race at the end when the two families resettle Mars and become the new Martians. Bradburry’s carefully chosen words made this story dramatic and realistic, while opening my eyes to how destructive humans can be.