The Martian Chronicles

This story gives the reader their first glimpse of a Martian that has survived the human colonization. The implication is that Martians are creeping back into human settlements, the ascendancy of humans is fading; the Martian planet and its peoples are reclaiming the land. Martian Tom survives utilizing the methods first seen in “The Third Expedition,” in which the Martians emulate memories to interact with humans safely, though he is far degraded in its ability. He cannot entirely control the shape it takes and is thus subject to the whim of each human that looks upon it. Martian Tom comes to represent Mars’ beleaguered relationship with human beings, and the toll it is taking on its natural resources. Mars can be one thing for one person, or one thing for another, but it cannot be all things to all people. Human beings have become too populous, and the vacuity of human want will destroy Mars before it can adapt.

LaFarge wants to accept the Martian on its own terms, but Anna wants it on hers. Her obstinacy in living the same life they lived on Earth unsettles the Martian’s balance, eventually killing him. The story takes the reader though sympathetic portraits of both humans, those trying to reclaim the happiness of their lives which were unfairly taken away, and Martians, who are trying to survive using the same strategies they used in “The Third Expedition,” only with less success.

The symbol of the door is particularly evident in this story. LaFarge leaving the door open at the beginning of the story suggests a lingering notion in the settlers to accept what Mars offers, but his closing and locking the door at the end depicts the emotional shift in turning away from Mars. The human settlers are now aware that their dreams were only illusions, that Martian landscapes are voids humans can fill but will never be fulfilled by. In this, Bradbury reveals the emptiness at the end of human settlement.