what was bradbury's inspiration for writing the man? how is his life portrayed in the story

That's an interesting question. I'd think it was part of his beliefs, rather than his life, that was portrayed in the story. It certainly isn't supposed to be biographical; Ray's ego isn't THAT big!

Bradbury was raised a Baptist. And some things stuck. But have they remained stuck?

Questionable.

The man in the rocket continually searching for Jesus Christ and not quite getting there on time sounds more like Bradbury today.

Expressing and writing about things that seem to describe the character of God thru Christ still is witnessed, say, thru his new stage plays. For instance, the re-making of Leviathan '99. But has Bradbury recognized Christ in all this?

No.

Nice to see you here, Nard. Hope you are feeling well and staying cool there.

Thoughts have been sent your way often, Nard...hope they have been felt!

I have also perceived a keen Catholic understanding of rites and beliefs in various themes of RB stories. The Man, Fireballoons, many poems, lines in Ice cream Suit, and others. Just a thought!

How does Ray answer questions that are asked about faith? Surely this is a topic that pops up in interviews from time to time.

quote:

Originally posted by djmonolith:
How does Ray answer questions that are asked about faith? Surely this is a topic that pops up in interviews from time to time.

Now you've done it!

I'll let Nard take this one.

(And no - it's not a can of lo mein!)

well, i certainly didn't want to open any cans. i assume this has been discussed on the boards. i will just troll around.

it is something that I have thought about from time to time.

quote:

Originally posted by djmonolith:
well, i certainly didn't want to open any cans. i assume this has been discussed on the boards.

No, it's good - I do it all the time (open a can of worms, that is). That's half the fun of hanging around here!

It has been discussed here. You can probably search thru some threads and find plenty.

Ray describes himself as a "fallen-away Baptist", and his current views are along the lines of Unitarianism.

It was relatively easy to find the "To ALL Christians: Pray Ray Bradbury into Heaven" thread. Looking at that now.

djmonolith ~

Answering your questions correctly would take a couple chapters. I've had that opportunity to sit with Ray at his home and ask him questions right out of scripture. For instance, going thru the few verses in the beginning first chapter of Ephesians 1, where it says that God knew you before he created the universe, planned each of your days, and made a way for you to be pleasing to Him by 'absorbing' you into the character of his Son, so that when he looks upon his Son, he also sees you. Well, Ray rejected all that.

In a nutshell, Ray draws a blank when it comes to understanding what God has already done on behalf of the sinner in terms of restoring a relationship with God. The idea of eternal life is skewed and he likes to entertain ideas of re-incarnation. He may intellectually understand some of the gospel, but experience of an event, say, of holy redemption, and how one applies that to their everyday life, draws short.

I think that, for Ray, much of religion is in the quest. That is ackwnowledged at the beginning of the story when the Captain and Martin are discussing that fact that they all all involved in a quest--a quest they can't quite define. Peace? Quiet? Truth? as Martin says, "Certainly we're looking for something." (p. 261)

In this story, Ray brings up several ideas he holds of religion. First is that it is a matter of subjective faith--not a matter of fixed doctrines. The Captain wants fixed, objective evidence. None is provided. It is something known through a subjective encounter. Martin, again, tells the caption, "Captian, if yu don't understand, there's no way of telling you." (p. 263)

Our efforts to define and concretize Christ/God are doomed to failure because, for Bradbury, there is something about God that is known subjectively--not through rules, doctrines, fixed practices, etc. "He didn't have a name. He doesn't need one. It would be differennt on every planet, sir." (p. 262) This is Martin, again, in answer to the Captain's question. The captain wants something fixed and defineable. Martin says it is not something fixed and defineable. God is transcendant at some level and in some way. While we can experience Him, we can't define and entrap Him into some form we are comfortable with. The mayor affirms that the strict description of God is significant. When the Captain insists on physical descriptions the Mayor tells him, "I don't believe that is important." (p. 24)

The Captain wants to enforce a view that the world is a matter of realism (as he defines it), and that efforts to transcend the physical and the controllable are dreams and fantasies. That doesn't have any "reality" and hence has no power or relevance. But it is subjectively experienced and known.

When the Captain is convinced that "The Man" is Jesus, he decides to go out after him to pursue the "real" Jesus (much like some modern Christians lose the subjective, faith-driven Christ for the quixotic quest to define the "historical" Jesus). The Mayor tells him, "Each finds him in his own way." (p. 269)

In the end, Christ is there, among them. But the Captain was not able to "feel" it, as he is after a physical, fixed "thing" that can be known scientifically and through the senses.

For Bradbury, this is not how religion works. The Mayor and Martin have it right. The Captain will always miss finding Christ (or God) as he is looking for the wrong thing.

Using "The Man" from the anthology, BRADBURY'S STORIES: 100 OF BRADBURY'S MOST CELEBRATED TALES. Harper Collins, NY. 2003.

Mr. Dark !

'The Man' was written a long whole ago. Ray has had ample time to let the world break him of his religious honesty, of what he may have held.

Mr Dark's analysis may not give insight into Bradbury's current religious convictions, but it is a very good analysis of the story.

I wish we had more of this on the board - writing about Ray's writing!

Thanks. I agree. I may drop off the other threads. I feel some of those discussions are too personal with judgments and attacks that aren't appropriate, anyway. I also, wish for more discussion of Bradbury's literature and thought, and will try to be a more productive participant. Hope everything is well across the shores.