The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury is a story of the colonization of Mars through many expeditions from earth astronauts. It evolves through history just as earth did, and the people from earth build towns on it similar to towns in America. Eventually thousands of people move to Mars. Many of the martians were killed in the earlier expeditions because the first astronauts had brought chicken pox to the planet. Eventually, Earth goes into a nuclear war and many people die. In the end, a family saves a rocket from the government and decides to go to mars. The final chapter discusses the father of the family burning all his old documents and ending his old way of life before their trip. Finally he introduces his son to "the martians" which was really nothing but the family's reflection in the canal water.
Bradbury's writing techniques and word choice illustrate the American Dream. The people from earth explored mars and colonized it in the same way that early pioneers moved west and colonized it during "Manifest Destiny". He also makes references to how exploring and colonizing new places can be harmful and destructive, such as the astronauts killing the martians with chicken pox, similar to how early Americans killed Native Americans with small pox. Bradbury uses very descriptive writing to describe the beauty of planet mars, and then later uses dialogue to show how little the people from earth cared that they had destroyed the planet, such as children exploring the ruins and playing with the martian's ribcage bones.
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