Every life is a story. Each living person is somewhere between the beginning and the end of their own story, ever suspended between the past and future on a moment we call the present. In a world full of stories, what distinguishes a tragedy from a happy storyline? Is it the length, the climax, the general direction of the storyline, or the cast of supporting characters? There are many factors that contribute to living “the good life”, but one of the most important is peace with one’s own story, which encompasses resolution and continuity from the past and hopeful expectations for the future. First, the good life requires peace with the past. This includes two aspects: a sense of resolution and a sense of continuity. Continuity involves a person’s ability to accept new experiences in harmony with their past, while resolution is the …show more content…
Even those who know they are going to die must have an optimistic outlook, if not for themselves, for their legacy. In The Martian, Mark Watney displays immense courage even in his lonely, desolate situation. Why? Because his identity includes resourcefulness and resiliency, he hopes for positive outcomes for his own future, but even in the event of his own failure to survive, he has optimism for his loved ones’ lives. Because of this, he is happy, productive, and energetic even in what could be the final days of his life. Optimism is applicable to both crises and normal living. It has been shown how optimism brings about the good life amidst catastrophe, but what happens between major life events? One cannot live the good life without a sense of purpose. Optimism encompasses both goals and one’s hope in their accomplishment, giving one a sense of purpose and an anticipation of happiness in times of comfort or distress and keeping the individual progressing within their life story. Thus, a positive view of the future is critical to the good life in adversity or
An individual’s meaning or purpose in life cannot truly be realized unless they are faced with a situation in which their course of action directly affects their future. In most cases, humankind is forced to face an extreme circumstance when something comes to an end, whether it be positive or negative, for that ending means that change is inevitable and approaching. Thus, life becomes more meaningful as something ends, for people are forced to realize what is truly important to them as well as the idea that nothing lasts forever. Individuals must choose which of the aspects and goals of their lives are the most significant and should be focused on as they approach a resolution, as can be seen in the Gawain Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Therefore, due to the finality of an ending and the uncertainty of the following events, humankind can reveal what they believe are the
In the book The Martian by Andy Weir, Mark Watney is thought to be dead and left on Mars after a sandstorm during Sol 6. Mark has to survive with what’s left on mars and through many obstacles and tribulations in his fight to survive. The way Mark’s character broadens from start to finish shows that Mark is witty, rational, and driven.
Like Spender, as Captain Wilder began to learn more about the Martian culture he realized how strong their civilization was, and that Earth could definitely adopt some of its principles to better its own civilization. “One day Earth will be as Mars is today... It’s an object lesson in civilization. We’ll learn from Mars” (Bradbury 55). Clearly Captain Wilder knew that the Martian’s way of life was the reason they were so successful until only disease killed them off.
“All the facts about Mars are accurate, as well as the physics of space travel the story presents. I even calculated the various orbital paths involved in the story, which required me to write my own software to track constant-thrust trajectories,” Andy Weir on the scientific and mathematical attention to the book The Martian. There is no doubting Andy’s attention to detail. He used his dreams to create a story and backed it up with hard facts. Drew Goddard’s film adaptation, however, lacked a moral judgement in keeping the ending honest. He failed to incorporate the facts which Mark Watney clearly explained in the novel. Finally, the emotions towards the main character, Mark Watney, was somewhat clouded in the film. Moreover, the movie version of The Martian by Andy Weir is an unacceptable adaptation, because the conflicting purposes caused intense changes to the story.
Everyone can pant a pretty picture of how wonderful their life may be. In fact, doing so may come with a consequences. Reading these three short stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell and a short biography by Malcolm X called “My First Conk”, set off many different emotions. I felt as these author’s wanted to me to feel in such way. I believe there is a life lesion in every life story someone has to share, no matter how small or big.
Bradbury developed the setting of the story similar to Earth as far aslandscape, atmosphere, and people in order to emphasize his intentions. Themartians are described as if they are American Indians at the time of theAmerican Revolution. For example, in the beginning of the story, Bradburydepicts Martians "they had the fair, brownish skin of the true Martian, the yellowcoin eyes, the soft musical voices." The trees, the towns in Mars, and the grassare all described like Earth landscape. Bradbury's Mars is a mirror of Earth.These plots raise moral issues and reflections of how history may repeat itself. Bradbury portrays Mars as humankind's second world, where we may goafter our Earthly existence. In the episode of "April 2000: The third expedition,"Captain John Black's mother said "you get a second chance to live" (pp.44).Lustig's grandmother said "ever since we died" (pp.40). Humans have a naturalfear of death. Some humans may even have a death wish. Bradbury reveals histhought of death through the connection between Mars and Earth. Through Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury warns us of ourfuture. In the episode of "June 2000: And the Moon ve still as bright," CaptainWilder said, "one day Earth will be as Mars is today...It's an object lesson incivilizations. We'll learn from Mars" (pp. 55). Throught the story, Earth man,especially American think that they are superior than the Martian. Earth mancan do anything and knows everyting. However, Bradbury's message is to tellthem it is not true. Earth man, here American people realize there are manythings that they can learn from others.
If the Martian Chronicles had been written in the 1999’s instead of fifty years ago, many issues and problems would change. Ray Bradbury wrote his book in 1946. In it he wrote about problems such as censorship, man’s cruelty to man, and loneliness. Each issue shows up in one or two of his chronicles. All of his issues affect every one of his characters in many different ways.
A good story is one that isn't demanding, that proceeds from A to B, and above all doesn't remind us of the bad times, the cardboard patches we used to wear in our shoes, the failed farms, the way people you love just up and die. It tells us instead that hard work and perseverance can overcome all obstacles; it tells lie after lie, and the happy ending is the happiest lie of all. (85)
Andy Weir's book, The Martian, is laced with conflict, both external and internal. From the beginning of the book, Weir shocks the reader with the dramatic opening of "I'm pretty screwed." This is the reader's first glimpse that there is conflict between natures bloodthirsty determination to kill the book's main character Mark Watney, an astronaut, botanist and an engineer, and Mark's desire to survive against all odds. In his daily logs Mark narrates his deathly encounters and near-death experiences with nature. Mark's logs record every event in which nature strives to get the best of him and yet he is able to keep his sense of humor throughout. In one of his logs Mark humorously states " I was just one of her crew. Actually, I was the very
Everyone has a hope, a dream, or a plan. The characters in The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury, are no exception. The hopes, dreams, and plans these different characters have unite each of the short stories in this classic American novel. Everyone and everything no matter what age, gender, race, or species have a goal in life that they strive to achieve. There are examples of this reoccurring theme throughout the short stories in the book: a dream of happiness for a Martian in “Ylla,” a plan to terrorize in “Usher II,” and a hope of a fresh start in “The Million-Year Picnic.”
During the period after the Industrial Revolution the rich Western nations of the world began their imperialist expansion, racing to colonize any “unclaimed” territories. All of the colonized regions had their own culture and government, but because the West was so much stronger, they were taken over. When these areas were finally freed from years of oppression, their society was left in shambles and much of their culture was destroyed. Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles explores this theme of imperial expansion as applied to the hypothetical situation of humans colonizing the planet Mars. In the novel, the humans who flock to the planet are portrayed as reckless beings with no care for their new home. They destroy ruins, clear the land, and rebuild a comfortable human society on Mars. The parallels between the Earthlings in the novel and imperialists today are made very apparent, exposing the reader to the idea that humans have been colonizing territories in the wrong way. Instead, Bradbury offers the correct solution by stating that the righteous way to colonize a new land is by preserving and adapting to the native culture of the land, and by becoming a foreigner, or Martian, themselves.
By surmounting the obstacles placed in front of him, how the hero responds shows his true nature and makes his reward that much more worthwhile. Mars is the ultimate enemy in this novel, and it does not care about Mark’s health or survival. It is therefore up to him to use his own ingenuity and training to figure out how to survive. Things for him start out rough: he wakes up, after being impaled by an antenna ray, to find out his crew has abandoned him on Mars. From here on out, Watney must decide how to grow a food source and make use of the resources leftover from the Ares 3 mission to last until the Ares 4 mission. Furthermore, he survives several explosions to the Hab, multiple grueling trips in the landrover, a giant duststorm, having the rover and attached trailer flipped over while going down an incline, and being launched into space. In a way, Watney essentially achieves immortality status. Being stuck on Mars should have meant automatic death, yet he manages to pull himself together, form a plan, and adapt whenever the plan fails and nearly kills him. This also reveals a lot about his character. With the occasional much-deserved griping, Watney meets every setback with sarcasm and the grim reality that he could die at any point before his rescue. He does not complain or excessively lament about his situation like Väinämӧinen did, but instead
Going through life means experiencing great happiness but also great loss. Every loss we face may hurt and cause us grief, but we must let life take its course and endure the pain, for we cannot know true happiness without knowing true sorrow. Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” discusses the hardships that come with pain and loss and gives insight about how a person can overcome that pain. Even the pain might hurt a great deal right now, the wound will only heal if we allow ourselves to feel that pain. As famous poet Lao Tsu once said, “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
Over the course of our lives, there are times where we are at a high point, where our lives are full of happiness and there is nothing for us to worry about. However, we often come to sit back and realize that our lives might not be exactly how we imagine it. There are problems and obstacles that we must choose to overcome. With the rate society is evolving at, we miss out on the little things like friends and family that makes our lives that much more special. Life can be filled with bliss no matter how bad things may seem and we can find true happiness from fixing these problems to make our lives blissful.
People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.