Humor In Andy Weir's The Martian

In Andy Weir’s breakout novel, The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney gets stranded on Mars when his crew’s mission to the planet’s surface goes horribly awry. An unusually large sandstorm surprises the crew, leading to them being forced to abort their mission. During the evacuation, however, Mark Watney, the team’s resident mechanical engineer and botanist, gets hit and swept away into the storm by an unsecured piece of equipment. The crew, believing him to be dead, goes ahead with the mission abort, leaving Watney injured, but alive and stranded on the Martian surface. Through the development of the character of astronaut Mark Watney, Weir illustrates brilliantly, yet poignantly how humor is a very effective psychological tool to cope with hardships. Weir does an amazing job of writing a loveable and relatable character with Mark Watney and a big reason that readers are so readily able to identify with Watney is by virtue of his extraordinary ability to employ his cheeky sense of humor as a coping mechanism. Early on in the novel, Watney realizes that he needs to figure out some way to synthesize water from another chemical by

In fact, according to Alexander P. Vilaythong, et al in the journal article, “Humor and Hope: Can Humor Increase Hope”, they state that, “It has been empirically demonstrated that humor can positively affect psychological and physical well-being, and that sense of humor is a major component of high-hope individuals” (Vilaythong, et al 79-89). The character of Mark Watney shows this to be true in his particular case. His sense of humor and his ability to make light of some of the most perilous situations that he finds himself in is an important tool in his wheelhouse. His wit and humor allow him to push off some of the negative effects of stress, such as distracted thinking or obsessive