It is often said that man's worst enemy is man. In Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, man's attempt to control the uncontrollable ultimately leads to his demise. Thorough the foreshadowing of atomic, the race for utopia , and the glimpse as to what the future may hold for mankind.
Although the treat of atomic war has been real for decades, the first evidence is introduced by an ordinary , average man who want to escape inevitable war. " There was going to be a big atomic war in about two years, and he didn't want to be here where it happened" (31) . He want s to control his destiny by leaving Earth before the war erupts. This Character's actions, however , contribute to his ultimate demise. He is arrested; therefore, he is left behind. He has not control over the situation.
Another example of how man's failed to attempts to control the uncontrollable is the frac for utopia on Mars. People from all walks of life go to the planet for many different reasons. However, they all have on thing in common. They bring their earth culture with them. "They came to the strange blue lands and put their names upon the lands. all the names of people and the things that people did" (102) The people are in such a rush to create a perfect life from themselves that they have forgotten why they have come to Mars in the first place. They haven't escaped earthly rules and regulation, and social classes . Instead, they have merely recreated them on Mars. As a result the idea of a perfect place will never manifest itself, and , once again man prevails at not prevailing .
Perhaps the most interesting thing is mans attempt to control man. The way man tries to control other men is usually by force. This apparent by the atomic war that is visible from the surface of Mars. The radio report calls all the citizens of earth, who are on Mars, come back home. They all return, with the exception of a few , who are left behind , to a full atomic war and everyone is killed.
