Martian Chronicles Arrogance

In his novel, Martian Chronicles, Bradbury’s use of dialogue, characterization, and contrast to criticize humanity’s hubris. The stories in Martian Chronicles focus on a reality where Earth has been overtaken by the expressive pride of humanity, leading to the overall destruction through atomic war. Through this portrayal of the future, Bradbury emphasizes the extreme, yet very possible outcome of society’s hubris. Throughout the novel, Bradbury utilizes the arrogance of the characters during conflict to comment on society’s pride in technology and innovation. In Earth Men, the Second Expedition crew had difficulty convincing any Martian that they were explorers from Earth. When they failed to receive recognition, the men “glanced longingly

In “Earth Men”, the Second Expedition crew is locked away with insane Martians that are also supposedly from Earth. Since these Martians are not actually from Earth, the cities and countries they refer to are unfamiliar to the crew. The captain then asks, “Is that near America?” (25). When the Martians fail to recognize America, the captain angrily responds, “You say you’re from Earth and yet you don’t know?” (25). This shows that the captain believes that anyone on Earth knows of America. This same ignorance parallels American society, since American’s believe that America is a superior country that all other cultures should revere and recognize. Bradbury also conveys this in “The Off Season”, where Sam Parkhill presents a similar sense of pride. When confronted by a Martian native, Parkhill tells the Martian, “I’m from New York city. Where I come from there’s ten million others like me” (134). Since Parkhill is confident that he is acting in favor of the majority, he justifies his disrespect to the Martian natives. He believes that America holds “superiority” to Martian culture, just because of sheer population size. Parkhill even attempts assert his nation’s superiority, saying, “Well the old got to give way to the new. That’s the law of give and take” (134). In actuality, Parkhill never gave the Martians anything, and therefore has no right to take either. However, his belief that American society is superior allows him to take with no regret. Bradbury uses Parkhill to comment on how America justifies the invasion of foreign lands through their supposed superiority. This kind of hubris leads to conflict, and can ultimately result in the total annihilation of