Ignorance Exposed In Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles

Society, as large as it is, will always breed ignorance, and when that ignorance comes about, it leads to hate. In Ray Bradbury’s science fiction novel, The Martian Chronicles, multiple themes are brought up criticizing the values of 1940’s America. One of the more prominent themes is the racism and xenophobia that was widespread during that time period. Bradbury’s writing displays the belief that racism is wrong, however, it will never truly dissipate. One of the most bigoted characters in the novel, Samuel Teece, is a prime example of Bradbury’s feelings on the issue. In the novel, one of his workers, Silly, leaves for Mars, along with thousands of other African Americans. After Silly says goodbye, Teece still feels he has “won,” exclaiming,

The Martian Chronicles shows the 1940’s standing of racism when Samuel Teece, who can’t understand why the African Americans are leaving to Mars, vociferates, “‘I can’t figure out why they left now. . . . I mean, every day they got more rights. What they want, anyway? Here’s the poll tax gone, and more and more states passin’ anti-lynchin’ bills, and all kinds of equal rights. What more they want? They make almost good money as a white man, but there they go,’” to the other men with him (96). This is Bradbury’s clear explanation of the issues going on in the 1940’s, from poll taxes to the lynchings of African Americans, racism and xenophobia proved to be rampant. However, this is not the only thing Teece’s statement displays. When Teece asks, “What more they want?” it once again shows Bradbury’s belief that things will not improve for people of color so long as people in our society remain ignorant and furthermore, hateful. Teece is asking what more do African Americans want, considering that they are getting more equal rights, or more accurately, basic human rights. This proves Teece’s ignorance with his view that the African Americans should be happy with the little amount of justice and equality they have; moreover, those rights should already be available to them without a bill being