Essay #8 Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles

Rockets as a Dichotomous Motif for Advancement, and Destruction, in The Martian Chronicles

The Martian Chronicles features the motif of rockets as a possibility of both discovery and destruction. Rockets simultaneously represent the grandeur of scientific advancement, and a history of violence and destruction. The rocketry technology for space exploration originates from war; and in particular the V-2 rocket, developed in 1944 in Nazi Germany (The Guardian 2012), which was the first long range ballistic missile (NASA Spacelink System n.d.). The design of this rocket of war is credited as a major influence to the development of space exploration as after the war, the United States and U.S.S.R. utilised the technology and its developers in their own programs, transitioning rockets from purely destructive purposes, into instruments of discovery for scientific progress, which would eventually allow for further exploration into our solar system (Ibid.).

In Bradbury's experience, rocketry technology is a double edged sword capable of eithers advancing our society; or destroying it. The rocket motif is used to introduce this dichotomy into the chronicles from the onset, to challenge that the idea that the advancements made possible by scientific breakthroughs will better the the lives of people:

“'Science ran too far ahead of us too quickly, and the people got lost in a mechanical wilderness... emphasizing machines instead of how to run the machines. Wars got bigger and bigger and finally killed Earth...We were lucky. There aren't any more rockets left.. Earth is gone. Interplanetary travel won't be back for centuries, maybe never. But that way of life proved itself wrong and strangled itself with its own hands. You're young. I'll tell you this again every day until it sinks in.'” (“The Million Year Picnic”).

Scientific advancements can lead to positive outcomes, but as The Martian Chronicles explores, if we don't know how to use technology with wisdom, and for peace, everyone (Earthling or Martian) will suffer in the end.

References

NASA Spacelink System. n.d. A Brief History of Rocketry.
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/rocket-history.htm
(accessed March 26, 2013).

The Guardian. 2012. V2 rocket: engine of war and discovery – video.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2012/aug/04/v2-rocket-engine-war-discovery-video
(accessed March 26, 2013).