The Martian 'And Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'

Book review 1: Similarities between the novel The Martian by Andy Weir and the poem Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas

The Martian and Do not go gentle into that good night are both pieces of literature I have discovered through my passion for science and film. The Martian interested me as it was book about using science to survive on Mars. Do not go gentle into that good night is a poem used as a motif for surviving extinction in the film Interstellar, starring Matthew McConaughey.

The first similarity between these two pieces of literature is the desperate attempt at survivial in extreme adversity. This adversity being left on Mars by Mark Whatney’s (the main protagonist) crewmates, assuming he is dead, in The Martian and the inevitable death by old age of Dylan Thomas’s father in Do not go gentle into that good night. In both situations death is more likely than survival.

This is seen in Do not go gentle into that good night in line 7 and 8, where “wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words have forked no lightning”. These lines mean that although these men know their deaths are inevitable and they briefly despair, they nevertheless are brave and strong in the face of their deaths. Similarly, in The Martian this is seen in the opening paragraph “I’m pretty much [doomed]. That’s my considered opinion. [Doomed]. “ and “I don’t even know who’ll read this. I guess someone will find it eventually.” This shows Whatney’s despairing attitude at his situation and hope his logs will one day be read by someone else. In both pieces of literature these characters eventually decide they will persevere through overwhelming odds or die