The Martian

Order Description
Write a review of the 2015 film “The Martian”. Could refer to the book “The Martian” by Andy Weir

Solution

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir is a science fiction novel that centers on the main character Mark Watney. He goes as a member of the Ares 3 crew to Mars.  The team takes about a year to fly to Mars by means of the Hermes ship. The crew uses Mars descent vehicle MDV to get to the plane surface. They dropped supplies to aid them to survive through the study of the planet prior to landing. They drop Hab, which is their living quarters, on the surface together with MAV or ascent vehicle of Mars (Weir, 2014). This vehicle is supposed to take them back to Hermes once they complete their research. Both Are 1, and Ares 2 missions were successful, and there were no significant problems that were noted. NASA had high hopes that Ares 3 would be successful, too, but the unexpected happened. Hab is erected, thus offering the astronauts a safe environment for living just when the sandstorms began. There is no visibility, and NASA is concerned that the storms might last for long since it would put their lives in danger, and this makes NASA have the mission aborted (Weir, 2014). NASA advises the Ares 3 crew to make use of MAV to get back to the Hermes, the earth. The storms became worse, and 6 crew members died, and Mark disappeared, and the commander cannot find his body, and they return the rest of the crew to earth. Mark ends up living on Mars for a year and a half, and he faces life-threatening situations as well as a significant challenge before he is rescued. The novel is cherished and valued, and this has stood the test of time.

Value of the book

 The reason why Martian is cherished and valued is that it is about technology and how it is used to explore space. The novel is realistic in the face of technological advancement. The story focuses on common issues that affect human beings, such as isolation, fear, sacrifice, perseverance, and even science. Mark faces a lot of life-threatening situations while he was abandoned on Mars. He tries to find his means to survive through harsh conditions. Mark is blinded with science, and for the first time, he was stranded on the planet Mars. He is forced to improvise using the power of his brain to device means to survive through the harsh environment. He is seen fighting for survival, and he never gives up, and this shows persistence. The author reveals that Mark would do anything to survive and be taken back home, but unfortunately, he could not get out there. Weir explains the challenges that have been brought by technology, the astronauts went to explore Mars, and they were faced with a lot of difficulties, particularly in the Are 3 crew (Weir, 2014). They are affected by sand storms, and the harsh climatic conditions contribute to the abortion of mission 3. The author makes use of realistic objects to depict the challenges. The objects are familiar to the reader. The book remains relevant in the face of technological advancements. Technology is the order of the day, and it has helped scientists to devise approaches to explore the space. For instance, in the book, the crew of astronauts was making use of MAV space vehicles to take them to Mars and back to the surface of the earth.

Marxism Theory

  The best theory that would describe this book better is Marxism.  This theory is a socioeconomic theory, and it depicts society as capitalist. NASA is exploiting the astronauts to further its technology. We are told that it’s aware that Mark is alive, and it refuses to reveal this to the rest of the Hermes crew (Weir 2014). The problems that Mark goes through while he is left on Mars alone, as well as the challenges of his fellow astronauts, is a good depiction of how NASA exploits the astronauts to their advantage(Weir, 2014). Weir makes use of similes to show how astronauts are exposed to harsh climatic conditions in space like the sand storms. When Mark disappeared during the Are 3 mission, the commander does not take much time to look for him, and he is even abandoned in space. NASA withholds information about the survival of Mark to the Hermes crew resulting in dramatic irony, and this enables the reader to understand something that the other characters don’t. The rest of the team inclusive of Kapoor fears whether Mark is alive takes one and a half years for Mark to be rescued, and this is quite a lot of time that NASA took to rescue Mark. This implies that NASA is exploiting the astronauts to further its research. The challenges they go through are depicted through the use of similes and metaphors.

Similes and metaphors

Wayne makes use of similes and metaphors to convey the message in the novel. Similes are used to describe the feeling of the antenna and the pursuit of Mark to get an antenna in the first sandstorms. The similes show how the antenna messed him quickly, and that was the reason why he found himself in the situation (Weir, 2014). Vogel uses the metaphor of the monkey to refer to his children. The metaphor shows that the kind of care he demonstrates toward his wife and children even when they are separated by distance (Weir, 2014). The catastrophic consequences that befall Mark are described using the small pieces of evidence of the challenges. The novel pays attention even to small details like the dust and the storm to show the clever novel solution that Mark comes up with to enable him to survive (Weir, 2014). The melting of the pigeon’s strong simile is used by NASA (Weir, 2014). This simile is used to describe the strength of the messaging system, which will need to be on Earth to reach Mars based on the current availability of the technology that Weir makes use of in the novel. The simile is evident on the resident of Earth would want to witness a technology signal; this turned out to be extremely dangerous. This shows that they had strong signal to detect that Mark was alive and they could not reveal it.

Conclusion

 The book “Martian” by Andy Weir’s book is valued and cherished, and this has stood the test of time. This is because the novel makes use of realistic situations and events to explain how the book unfolds.  The book depicts the challenges that have been brought about by technology and what human beings have to go through as a result. The novel makes use of objects that the reader is familiar with, and therefore, the theory that could describe this best is realism. The setting and the images used in the book are real, and the reader is familiar with them.

Reference

Weir, A. (2014). The martian. Random House. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › The_Martian_(Weir_novel