The Martian Chronicles

A detailed Summary of The Martian Chronicles

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury, is a science-fiction book and was written in 1946. This major work by Bradbury is a collection of short stories relating to Mars or Martians. Bradbury had a clear vision of the Mars in which these stories are set. His vision was one of a fantasy world from the Martians point of view. In this work, the humans from Earth are the aliens from outer space. Bradbury has won many awards including the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the Aviation-Space Writers Association Award, the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement, and the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Bradbury supported his awards with The Martian Chronicles, keeping with the theme of giving his readers something to enjoy. His thoroughness in his writing keeps the reader wanting more.

The Martian Chronicles is a collection of 19 short stories about Mars and the Martians. He opens the book with a very short story, "Rocket Summer". "Rocket Summer" is a great exaggeration of how hot it becomes within a few miles radius of a rocket launch. Around this certain rocket, it was winter. As soon as the rocket's booster ignited, all of the snow within the vicini

Another theme Bradbury uses to gain the reader's attention is time travel. In his tenth story in The Martian Chronicles, "Night Meeting", Bradbury uses time travel to convey more of his ideas of Mars. "There was a smell of Time in the air tonight. He smiled and turned the fancy in his mind. There was a thought. What did Time smell like? Like dust and clocks and people?" Bradbury uses all of man's senses to express his feelings of what exactly Time is. By doing so, the reader has a clearer understanding of Bradbury's point of view. "He drove the truck between the hills of Time. His neck prickled and he sat up, watching ahead." Bradbury indicates through this quote that every place has more than one location, each at a different time in it's history. Doing this makes Bradbury's genre clear, science-fiction.

ty melted. "The snow dissolved and showed last summer's ancient green lawns.". Bradbury knew when he wrote this that a weather change that dramatic would never happen from a single rocket, it was simply to grab the attention of the reader.

Also in "Night Meeting", Bradbury writes about his views of Martian intelligence. "And then the Martian laughed. 'Wait!' Tomas felt his head touched, but no hand had touched him. 'There!' said the Martian in English. 'That is better!'". Through this passage we learn of Bradbury's very creative imagination. He knows what the reader wants to read and presents it to them in his own way. Bradbury had thought of this way of alien education well before the modern version of the same exact thing. Shown to many in a recent movie, The Matrix, where a plug is inserted to the back of the head and any bit of information can be downloaded into the brain. Bradbury was way before his times, but to his advantage, with the image of alien education.

Ray Bradbury's literary techniqu

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Approximate Word count = 1227
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels