Martian Chronicles Criticism

Criticism of Technology in “The Martian Chronicles” Ray Bradbury, an author from the Cold War time period, wrote when technology was rapidly advancing because of threats made back and forth by America and Russia . As a result of this paranoia, technology was advanced out of fear rather than a will for innovation, causing man to create weapons with destructive power that, if used, could destroy the world many times over. Bradbury warns of the dangers that come with creating technology ignorantly and out of fear. Using the anthology “The Martian Chronicles”, Bradbury criticizes man’s ignorance and inability to adapt through their rapid advances in technology, which are used as a response to cover up flaws and nullify the need for change. Bradbury

As stated before, Bradbury uses his short stories to criticize many facets of humanity, but in this story his purpose is to explain that man can still fix themselves and correct some of the wrongs that they have done. His main criticism in this story as well as the whole book is that at the root of all of humanity’s problems is their inability to adapt, and as a result rely on making the environment adapt to whatever suits their needs. Bradbury directly addresses this point when the father reveals his stack of old Earth documents tosses them into the fire saying, “I am burning a way of life… science ran too far ahead of us too quickly, and the people got lost in a mechanical wilderness…”(180). The statement represents Bradbury’s solution, in which humanity needs to shed their old values and learn to adapt if they wish to live on prosperously into the future. Bradbury further solidifies this claim as his message when the narrator says, ”The martians were there- in the canal- reflected in the water…”(182). This symbolizes how the family has adapted and become “martian”, which allows them to survive. Being the only ones left on the planet, Bradbury makes his message clear that in order for man to stop their descent they must learn to