Fear; the destruction of our world
This is it. He’s coming to kill me. He’s coming to beat me. You feel the adrenaline pumping through your veins, sweat in your palms, time slows down, yet you feel like it’s not enough, in a time as stressful as this, what would you be willing to sacrifice to get yourself to safety? The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury is a 1950’s sci-fi short story collection that chronicles the colonization of mars. The story makes many accurate illustrations on how various factors of the American lifestyle will bring havoc and destruction to society. Fear leads to pressured responses and erratic actions, and Bradbury predicts how these fearful responses will degrade society; this is supported by our world today.
Xenophobia,
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a mindset derived for being scared of anything new; drives humans to trigger their adrenaline pumped flight or fight responses, often making regrettable choices in obstructing society. In “The Off Season”, Sam Parkhill, a hot dog stand owner with xenophobia, is faced with a mysterious Martian. The martian states “We mean no harm” (Bradbury134), but Sam quickly combats with “ ‘But I mean you harm!’ said Sam backing up. ‘I don’t like strangers. I don’t like Martians. I never seen one before. It ain't natural.’... ‘a silver hand gestured. A bronze tube appeared in it. ‘Let me show you this.’ ‘A gun’ cried Sam Parkhill. An instant later he had yanked his own gun from his hip holster and fired into the mist, the robe, the blue mask”(Bradbury 134). Facing an entity that Parkhill’s never had interaction with before drives him to “back up” an illustration flight or fight response derived from his fear of the unknown. Then suddenly when he sees something resembling “a gun” it triggers a stressful response, resulting in the death of the completely harmless martian. During that moment, Parkhill had his mind set purely for his survival, and when he saw something that could potentially “kill” him, he kicks into his beastilized mindset, where his sole purpose is to kill or be killed. This adrenaline-pumped reaction isn’t just a work of fiction, either. In a Florida murder trial, Michael Dunn, a visitor, is accused of killing a 17-year-old after a dispute over loud music escalated. As the court case went on, “Dunn told the jury he spotted about 4 inches of an object in the window frame that resembled a 12-gauge shotgun…’ Feeling threatened he thought ‘He’s coming to kill me. He’s coming to beat me’ ... ‘Dunn reached into his glove box, unholstered his pistol and opened fire at the Durango, which contained Davis and three other black teenagers. Three bullets struck Davis, who died shortly afterwards” (Neale). As a visitor, Dunn was fearful of the intimidating teen. That lead him to assume that the 3 black teens were in possession of a 12-gauge shotgun, although it was later confirmed that the 3 black teens were unarmed. The pure angst of not knowing what he’s going up against pushed Dunn to think purely for his survival. This caused him to “unholster his pistol” and fire at the teens which triggered his flight or flight response. Fearful of the intimidating teen, angst forced Dunn to purely think for survival. This caused him to erratically “unholster his pistol” and fire at the teens that triggered his flight or flight response. “Kill” is a very strong word, and when it is used to describe being threatened, fear is most definitely invoked. In both cases xenophobia drives both of the characters to have their thoughts clouded, thinking only for themselves and ignoring the bigger picture. With many similarities, Michael Dunn is a modern example of Parkhill. Guns were a huge factor in both stories, creating a threatened ambiance that drove them to kick their flight or fight responses. Parkhill is scared by the “the robe, the blue mask” or the martian, threatening him with something that Parkhill, in the moment, assumes to be a pistol. Therefore yanking “his own gun from his hip holster” and shooting “ into the mist, the robe, the blue mask.” Dunn was given an uncomfortable ambiance as well. The teenagers had something that resembled a shotgun at the end of Dunn's car, leaving him to “unholster” his gun and shoot into the general direction of the teenagers' car. Both these stories clouded the minds of the fearful. Fear of something new. Fear derived from not allowing acceptance for the other. Fear causing adrenaline to surge through their bodies. The emotional stress brought them to hit and run, doing regrettable actions that even when fully conscience, didn’t have control over. Erratic actions derived from fear can keep us safe, however, it is also our greatest enemy due to its encompassing carnage.
In “The Green Morning”, Ben Driscoll travels to Mars and he immediately faints from the “thin” air quality from the absence of trees. The doctor recommends to send him home, however, this provokes his greatest fear of returning to earth. Not wanting to be sent home, “He looked down at his hands and turned them over. He [decides that he] would plant trees and grass. That would be his job, to fight against the very thing that might prevent his staying here. He would have a private horticultural war with mars”(Bradbury 75). Ben is very fearful of losing his opportunity on Mars, nearly fainting when the doctors threaten to send him back. He thinks that it’s absurd to be sent home “because of air”, so he sets his priority on staying on Mars. Tree planting is very beneficial to Ben and to other humans that are residing on mars because it could potentially keep them safe. However, it is more detrimental to the planet Mars and the Martians living on it. Ben Driscoll knows that he could cause “a private horticultural war with mars”, but he doesn't care and instead wishes “to fight against the very thing that might prevent his staying there”. When you hear the word “war’ the first thing that comes into your mind is usually death, violence or a generalized “bad” thing. The planting of the trees could be detrimental to the environment of Mars, for the …show more content…
ecosystem and environment on Mars is very different from what it is like on Earth.
Sadly, Bradbury’s predictions about the effect fear have on erratic decision making is shown in society today. An egotistical businessman named Donald Trump, who was to our dismay was recently elected to be our president. He is very controversial and makes a lot of rude and sexist remarks, so people are still confused unto why America has chosen him to be their president. The answer is simple. People did it out of fear, fear that the refugees coming from a very dangerous place will harm them. Statistics have shown that “31% of Americans specifically say the new immigration policy will keep them safer…. [while only] 26% fear the new rules will make them less safe” (Ropeik). This shows that some Americans find Trump's fear of terrorists beneficial and think that it would keep them safe from the immigrants or outsiders from other countries. Ignoring the fact that they believe he is under qualified, they made this rash decision purely to be protected from what they fear. Some Americans fear that the immigrants from other countries will come in and end up being terrorists or will come into the country and take their jobs. This fear instantly invokes them to try and find protection from it. Trump's remarks are beneficial in the way that it could bring safety against the immigrants who we fear, but also brings in a detrimental effect. Trumps Muslim Ban is detrimental because of the hate crimes that would follow Donald Trump's
Muslim ban, starting a war of protesters inside of America is a much greater threat than an over exaggerated terrorist organization. Although the source of fears from Donald Trump and Benjamin Driscoll are out of context, the ideological standpoints and results have some distinct similarities. When the environment felt less safe, Benjamin was driven to impactfully remove what made him fearful, creating an uncontrolled environment with unforeseen outcomes. When the community frightened Donald Trump, he was erratically driven to exempt the source of his fears, restricting access of all Muslim immigrants, creating outcomes that can shatter the country with internal war and hate crimes. These erratic actions were guided by fear to find a quick but irrational fix to the problem, eventually leading to more problems and invoking new fears to worry about. Fear can cloud our minds into launching stressful responses, and also lead us to do erratic actions, which both end up leading to havoc and destruction in our societies. Everything derived from fear is to keep us safe. The adrenaline in our blood, and the confusion in our brains. This ancient style of thinking in our modern and advanced world, not only doesn’t solve problems but invokes more to come. People must learn to be mindful in moments like this. To have the power to control the mind, even under stress riddled situations. To make the better choice and to see the bigger picture is the only way to not erratically make a regrettable decision.
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
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.
In the article “Modern-Day Witch Hunts”, Jamie Dailey focuses the attention on problems that Muslim Americans commonly face on a day-to-day basis. He first paints a picture by comparing the violent acts performed on Muslims to the Salem Witch trial in 1692. The Salem Witch trials resulted in 19 deaths of innocent individuals, because they were accused of witchcraft. Dailey goes on to explain in America, the type of persecution Muslims endure has many forms. A more recent controversy towards this religion involves the building of the Ground Zero Mosque in central New York. The name of this building is very misleading, especially to the eyes of an American. Even though this structure is actually built a few blocks away from where the former World Trade Center stood, problems have still risen from the public. Americans often mistake Muslims as the group of people who had performed acts of terrorism on American soil, when it was actually an Islamic group known as Al Qaeda. Mosques all across the United States started being vandalized by people protesting against their religion. This article shows how irrational fear can corrupt the thoughts of people.
"Culture of Fear" is a book that describes that it is our perceptions that dangers have increased, and so much the actual level of risk. Glassner explains in all of his chapters how people and organizations use our fears as a way to increase their profit. Glassner also states about the prices we pay for our panics and all the time and energy we spend worrying. Americans are afraid because of the media's broadband expose of crime, violence, drugs and diseases.
Similar to the Salem Witch Trials, these fears had no proper foundation, but after these brutal attacks, many people didn’t know what else to do, but be afraid. Comparable to “The Crucible,” the public showed great fear and they were very suspicious of the people they believed were suspects or possible perpetrators. People that expressed Islamophobia, which was an “exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims” grew in numbers (Gallup). The 9/11 attacks sparked a fear and hysteria against innocent American Muslims, which was very unintelligent, due to the fact that this was not based on the malice or terror of these Muslims, but actually their connection through religion with the
This summer I read 2 works by Ray Bradbury. Both were very good and were written with very good descriptions. The novels were Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles. Actually The Martian Chronicles was actually more like a group of short stories put together. One thing both these books had in common was with what the Author Mr. Bradbury had in mind while writing these. He had the future set in his mind. And he saw the deepest of the future. An example of this is how he had us going to war and mars by the year 2000.
In every society, throughout all of time fear is present. It is a an evolutionary instinct thought to have kept us alive, throughout the darkest moments in human history. However as time has progressed fear has had an unintended consequences on society, including the suffusion of incomprehension. During the Salem Witch Trials and Cold War a large sense of fear overcame these societies causing tragedy and misinformation to become commonplace. It is in these societies that it is clear that fear is needed to continue a trend of ignorance. Although bias is thought to be essential to injustice, fear is crucial to the perpetuation of ignorance because it blinds reason, suppresses the truth and creates injustice.
...arted committing terrorist attacks on the U.S. and other countries. Fear shouldn’t make you do irrational things, like the mass genocides that occurred during World War Two.
Throughout one’s life, he or she will experience many situations where a lesson is learned, or a fear is amassed. One person may be able to deal with such terrors easily, while another will suffer because of the dread and panic that now haunts them. The poem ‘My Fear’ by Lawrence Raab discusses the haunting situation of fear following someone, and the personification, imagery, and tone of the speaker all provide depth to this seemingly innocent poem and allow one to truly appreciate how fear and troubles affect him or her.
People who engage in relationships with someone from the Muslim population are harassed for having a romantic affiliation with someone who they would call a “terrorist”. Along with getting called horrific names, many have become objects of suspicion. Going through security, boarding an airplane and sitting next to someone without that person feeling worried or acting suspicious of them, is starting to become very uncommon. Rephrase this, it gets confusing: They think that since part of the Muslim population did something horrible, that they need to suspect the same from all of them. With that suspicion, it causes all American’s to get a sense of fear towards Muslim’s....
In The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury posits that becoming independent is shown as a brave, meaningful choice to take, whether it is for happiness, a worthy cause, or a peaceful life. It is shown that not following the norm and becoming an independent individual can lead to new, enthralling realizations, compelling philosophies, or true happiness. In this science-fiction novel, Bradbury explores this theme recurringly, more specifically in “Silent Towns”, “-And The Moon Be Still As Bright”, and “The Martian”. Written about the future, spanning the years from 1999 to 2026, The Martian Chronicles takes place on both Earth and Mars, telling the tale of the colonization of different planets and the annihilation of all humans on Earth through war. During the process of discovering these planets, human characteristics are prevalent, especially those concerning the great courage of independence and the bravery of individuality.
Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles shows us not only a different world from Earth and Mars, but also the future of America. Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles depicts the colonization of Mars in terms of the colonizationof America. The story is similar to what America experienced, such as thediscovery of America, the invasion of Indian colonies, and the new civilization.Dana's response paper also discussed the colonization of Mars.Other critics also pointed out that Bradbury's theme in the story was death.Through futuristic imagination, Bradbury applies connections to American historyand the issue of death in his story while raising concerns and warnings of thefuture.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an extraordinary writer who sought to describe the Puritan values he felt was lost. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Young Goodman Brown" is shown as an allegory of the threat essential in forsaking one's Christian conviction, even for one night. As one would assume, the story is infatuated with characters going through the endless trial of sin and guilt. There is a lack of subtlety in this theme, as the main character, Goodman Brown, hopes to accomplish something revolutionary in his travels. Hawthorne uses the theme of sin and guilt, the theme of the psychology of sin, and a nightly quest in order to display the controversies that overwhelmed Goodman Brown.
Judgement is very important when it comes to making decisions whether they are big or small. One’s judgement not only affects themselves but the other people around them. Fear can alter and impede judgement. In Lord of the Flies written by William Golding the boys are gathered as a tribe and they begin chanting. The boys have been afraid of the beast and they would do anything to protect themselves from it. Simon emerges from the forest and the boys are fearful that the beast is Simon. Despite how close Simon was to the boys, he was still torn and ripped apart by all of them because they were all affected by fear. Together the boys chant, “‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ Now out of the terror rose another desire, thick, urgent, blind” (Golding 152). Judgement is easily impaired by fear and causes people to make rash decisions. The boys knew that it was Simon, however, their fear of the beast overruled their minds and they were affected by their fear. People can gain power in the fictional world and the real world. The terrifying event that occured on September 9, 2001 is also known as 9/11. Around the country, people were unsure and fearful about the events that had just occurred in front of their eyes. These attacks had violently hurt people and made them scared of their own country. People were traumatized and were very affected by these horrible actions. Pandolfo writes,
by Ray Bradbury, the theme is that change is unstoppable, and people just have to adapt to change. Bradbury illustrates this through characterization, and plot. In the short story, a family of five come to Mars from Earth.