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Life On Mars Analysis

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Deep into The Reality of Life
Is there a life beyond earth? What is the mystery in space? Where do dead people go? If God exists what is the nature of God? The author of Life on Mars, Tracy K. Smith deals with these confusing and puzzling relationships of human existence with the universe. She has tried to explain this idea very well in two of her poems in the collection of Life on Mars: “The Weather in Space” and “The Speed of Belief”. In these poems, the use of “space” as a metaphor along with the use of repetition technique by Smith, allows the reader to accompany her on her journey of grief of losing her father, exploring questions about afterlife, and how the sense of optimism and hope can help tackle the hardest journey of life.
The opening poem “The Weather in Space” in Life on Mars starts with Smith questioning about the nature of God. She already believes in the existence of God, but she seeks to know what God is and where is God. The lines “Is God being …show more content…

The lines “Probably he spun out of himself/ And landed squarely in that there, his new/… vibrating at the speed Of Belief” (49-52) infers Smith imagining her father in heaven. In the line “She was probably waiting/…him to come (52-54), it can be assumed that she refers to her mother whom she lost years ago. According to an article “Far from Ordinary: A Profile Of Tracy K Smith”, “Tracy K Smith was twenty-two when her mother died in 1994” (Shea). Smith had already lost her mother many years ago and losing her father again broke her completely. It can be inferred that Smith was very close to her father, and on losing him she had to tackle a circle of loneliness and depression. In an interview, “‘Moving toward What I Don’t Know’: An Interview with Tracy K. Smith” when she was asked how she came up with Life on Mars, she

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