hey! i didnt really know what board to put this on...but i need some help interpreting this book im reading by Bradbury.....The Martian Chronicals...
wonderful book, but very confusing. i think just because its a whole bunch of short stories put into one big book....ive never read anything like this before. the whole part (kinda in the beginning) with Captain John Black and his crew, and Mars being like heaven or somehting.....ahh, i just dont know what it means. let me know. thanks!
<3 CoLeY

Be suspicious, appearances can be deceiving? Anyone else wanna try?

I think the Martians were just trying to lull the astronauts into a false sense of security so they would let down their guard, and then they would be more easily killed. Because the previous two expeditions had failed and the astronauts had no idea why, when they first arrived on Mars they were trying to be very cautious, much more cautious than the other two expeditions had been. So the Martians had to be more clever this time to achieve their goal--that of annihilating the Earthmen. By impersonating all their dead relatives and recreating their boyhood homes, the astronauts forgot their caution in the joy of "coming home." Even though they didn't quite understand how this could happen, they were so happy to see Mom, Dad, Grandma, etc. they suspended their disbelief and threw all caution to the wind. Who among us wouldn't love one last chance to spend time with someone we loved who has passed on? I myself would give anything to talk to either one of my grandmothers or the grandfathers I never knew. So of course they left the safety of the rocket and each went to their "home." They spent one idyllic evening with the folks and then were murdered in their sleep, in their childhood beds. Martian mission accomplished.

okay....so how do the martians know these things? and why do the martians want to kill the humans? in the first part when we learn about ylla and yll they seem so peaceful...well at least ylla does. i just dont understand! i get the whole thing about what they do to get the humans to let their guard down, but why do they do that. (that part makes me really sad, because i would hate to see a loved one that has passed away and then realize that it wasnt really them the whole time). mmm...i dont know.

A thought just struck me. If all of Ray's works were cut and dried, easy to understand and read, wouldn't they loose the appeal that they have?

Perhaps Ray wanted his reader's to wonder a bit. If there were pat answers to every story, every novel, then would they be any fun to read any more. I think that it is up to each person's own perception as to what they think might be motives (of the Martians) or of any aspect of Ray's writings.

In speaking with Ray I am not sure if he knows all of the background behind all of the stories he has written. True, he will indicate what might have been a catalyst to writing a story, but then he responds to his muses and they probably don't expalin everything to him.

coley,
Within the confines of these stories, at least, the Earthmen can be considered a threat. To Yll, perhaps competition, as Ylla's and his relationship has palled. Given that the Martians are telepathic, perhaps they perceive the malicious intents of the likes of Parkhill, and maybe even forsee their destruction. Think of the settlers' kids playing "musician".

The telepathy works both ways. It wasn't just Martians using earth people's own thoughts against them. Look at the poor Martians who were transformed against their own will into whatever the earthlings wanted most!

I think the chapter you refer to, Dandelion, is the most wrenching chapter of the entire novel. All of us at one time or another can probably relate to what that poor Martian is going through.

Thanks guys. you are really helpful. i guess that it is the way the reader percieves it, but i guess i just wish it was more logical. i like Ylla, does she ever come back? like are there more stories about her? (i havent gotten that far in the book). thanks again!
<3 CoLeY

No more Ylla. In fact, only two or three characters pop up again in this book. That's because the chapters were originally intended to be short stories and not part of a novel.

In structure, it is similar to two other famous books:

"In Our Time" by Ernest Hemingway

"Winesburg, Ohio" by Sherwood Anderson.

Bradbury has cited both as influences on him.