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Rocket Summer
Rocket summer: a time where the fire of the rocket melts away the winter cold. "The children worked off their wool clothes. The housewives shed their bear disguises. The snow dissolved and showed last summer's ancient green lawns.” (1)
It is shocking that the rocket can produce so much heat, turning the winter into summer for the people of the town. The quote above shows how warm this heat emitted from the rocket is, hot enough to melt show all around the town and make the air much warmer. -
Ylla
Mr. K (Yll) goes out to kill Earth Men because of dreams his wife is having about an Earth Man named Nathaniel York who is supposedly coming to Mars. “’What were you doing? She asked. ‘Nothing.’…’But the gun – I heard you fire it.’” (16).
It is sad that jealousy is the only way Yll will pay attention to Ylla, but he is willing to fight for his wife as seen in the quote above. -
The Summer Night
The Martians are acting strange and are singing songs that come from the planet Earth. "'What words are those?’... 'What song is that?' 'What language is that?'" (19)
It is strange that Ylla was dreaming about people from Earth and now people are singing songs that come from Earth as seen in the quote above. -
The Earth Men
An Earth man arrives with his crew but they may be hallucinations, so Xxx shoots the Captain (William) then shoots himself since he thinks he is crazy being able to see the dead. “’No, hallucination. They pass their insanity over into us so that we see their hallucinations too.’” (34).
It’s cool that the Martians can cause hallucinations, but the manner in which they use them is questionable as they make others insane as well as seen in the quote above. -
The Taxpayer
The taxpayer is worried about a nuclear war so he thinks he should get to go to Mars on the spaceship, but gets put into jail. “Wait for me! he cried. Don’t leave me here on this terrible world, I’ve got to get away; there’s going to be an atom war! Don’t leave me on Earth!” (41)
I think it was an interesting chapter that shows how terrified of war some people are and what they are willing to do to get away from it. -
The Third Expedition
A third group of men go to Mars and find Earth-like cities and these cities are filled with dead relatives, but these relatives are actually martians. “’Did you hear that?’ Lustig turned wildly to the others. ‘Nineteen twenty-six! We have gone back in time! This is Earth!’” (50)
This shows just how convincing the martian telepathy is, they were able to convince the Earthmen that they had traveled back in time to another Earth. -
—And the Moon Be Still As Bright
The fourth expedition lands and they find all the martians dead from chicken pox so Spencer begins to kill off the Earthmen to preserve Mars, but his accomplice Wilder kills him. “The air smelled clean and new. Spencer sat for a long time just enjoying the way it was made.” (67)
It was nice that Spencer was trying to preserve what the martians left, but he went about it in the wrong way which led to more destruction of the natural beauty that is seen by Spencer above. -
The Settlers
The first group of people come to settle on Mars and they build their city much like it would have been on Earth. "The number grew steadily in proportion to the census of Earth men already on Mars. There was comfort in numbers." (96)
This shows just how many Earth men were picking up and moving to Mars which is significant because these men are basically taking over the planet, like the Europeans took over the Americas. -
The Green Morning
The air on Mars is too thin to breathe, so one man plants trees to help produce oxygen not knowing that they would all of a sudden grow very quickly. "He and the Co-ordinator had talked an entire morning about things that grew and were green." (99)
This shows how the Earth men were trying to change the planet in order for it to work better for them, changing what was natural for that planet, the was Europeans did with the Americas. -
The Locusts
More and more people come to Mars from Earth. "In six months a dozen small towns had been laid down upon the naked planet, filled with sizzling neon tubes and yellow electric bulbs." (103)
This is showing how the men from Earth did not care who was on the planet before them, they only care about how they can make the planet better suited for themselves. -
Night Meeting
Thomas, an Earthman, and Muhe Ca, a nice Martian, meet and have a nice talk. "It was Thomas who moved first. 'Hello!' He called. 'Hello!' Called the Martian in his own language." (107)
This shows that two different types of people can converse in a civil way and not try and cause harm to each other which is significant because it shows that not all the Earthmen/Martians have poor attitudes about the colonization of Mars. -
The Shore
Another wave of settlers comes to Mars and they are mostly looking for space or religious people. "Mars was a distant shore, and the men spread upon it in waves. Each wave different, and each wave stronger." (114)
This is significant because it shows that the people from Earth are continuing to come to Mars looking for settlement and it is no longer just a few men, it's a wider variety of people. -
Interim
The Earth men have moved to Mars and created a town that looks identical. "It was as if, in many ways, a great earthquake had shaken loose the roots and cellars of an Iowa, and then, in an instant, a whirlwind twister of Oz-like proportions had carried the entire town off to Mars to set it down..." (116)
This is significant because it shows just how similar the town they created is to the towns they left behind. -
The Musicians
Some young boys play among the abandoned cities of the Martians and among the dead bodies of dead Martians after their parents warn them not to. "'Not there! No, to none of the old towns! Watch where you hike. You'll get the beati of your life when you come home. We'll check your shoes!'" (117)
This shows the fear that the Earth people have of the matprtians, they don't even want their children to play in their old towns. -
Way in the Middle of the Air
African-Americans who are living in the south are looking to go to Mars to escape racism. "'What you mean, pulling out? How can they do that?' 'They can, they will, they are.' 'Just a couple?' 'Everyone single one here in the South!'" (119)
This is significant because it is shows what was going on during the time in which the book was written. -
Period: to
The Naming of Names
The Earthmen start to rename things on Mars. "The old Martian names were names of water and air and hills. They were the names of snows and emptied south in stone canals to fill empty seas." (136)
This shows how Americans are so eager to take what is not there's and make it theirs without regarding how others might feel about it. -
Usher II
A rich guys is tired of censorship so he builds a haunted house that he uses to kill off those responsible for the censorship. "Full grown with memory, the robots waited. In green silks the color of forest pools, in silks the color of frog and fern, they waited. In yellow hair the color of the sun and sand, the robots waited." (147)
This is significant because the man was able to create robots that were so lifelike they were able to pass as real people. -
The Old Ones
Old people are starting to show up on Mars, making it a retirement planet. "And so the dry and crackling people... Came at last to Mars..." (157)
This shows that the Earthmen are making Mars tame enough for old people to come and live and to be safe, they Earth people have come and conquered. -
The Martian
A Martian shapes gifts to be the lost person that everyone wants him to be, it becomes too stressful for him and he dies. "'Youblook like you lost something. Soaking of lost things,' said Mike, 'somebody got found this evening'... 'Lavinia came home tonight,'. (167)
This is significant because it shows that there are still Martians who are controlling what the humans see which is causing problems. -
The Off Season
An Earthman and a Martian get into a fight leading to him getting land on Mars from which he will not be able to profit. "'Mr. Parkhill, I've come back to speak to you again,' the voice said from behind the mask. 'I though I told you I don't want you near here!' Cried Sam. 'Go on, I'll give you the disease!'" (178)
This is significant because it shows that there is still intolerance on Mars even though some left Earth to find a better and safer place to live. -
The Watchers
The people who are on Mars are watching the war on Earth and think about heading home. "They all came out and looked at the sky that night.... It was a move without conscious effort; they all did it, to help them understand the news they had heard on the radio a moment before." (191)
This is significant because the people on Mars are now realizing that lots of things are happening on Earth and they cannot help in any way. -
The Luggage Store
The owner of the luggage store talks about how a nuclear war on Earth might cause an influx of people moving back to Earth. "There was going to be a war on Earth. He went out to peer into the sky. Yes, there it was. Earth, in the evening heavens, following the sun into the hills. The word on the radio and that green star were one and the same." (175)
This is significant because it is sparking interest in the Earthmen as to what is now happening on Earth again. -
The Silent Towns
The last man and woman who are left on Mars meet, and the man ends up running away. "His name was Walter Gripp. He had a plaer mine and a remote shack far up in the blue Martian Hills and he walked to town once every two weeks to see if he could marry a quiet and intellligent woman." (194)
This is significant because it proves the saying "I wouldn't marry her if she were the last person on Earth" because he truly would not marry this woman. -
The Long Years
A man who thinks he is the last one on Mars builds himself a robot family. "He sat upon a chair the son brought. 'How old are you, John?' The son replied, 'Twenty-three.' Wilder shifted his silverware clumsily. His face was suddenly pale. The man next to him whispered, 'Captain wilder, that can't be right.'" (214)
This shows just how advanced these people on Mars have become, they are able to make robot look human like and teach them to have certain characteristics. -
There Will Come Soft Rains
A house on Earth that is automated goes through its last day before breaking down. "AT eight-thirty the eggs were shriveled and the toast was like stone. An aluminum wedge scraped them into the sink, where hot water whirled them down a metal throat which digested and flushed them away to the distant sea."
This is significant because it shows how far people on Earth have come as well, they are able to program a machine, a house, to do work for them and it continues after humans are gone. -
The Million-year Picnic
Two families are living on Mars because they have escaped the nuclear war on Earth. "'What are you looking at so hard, Dad?' 'I was looking for Earthian logic, common sense, good government, peace, and responsibility.' 'All that up there?' 'No. I didn't find it.'" (231)
This is significant because it shows that the people who have escaped Earth once again are looking for the same things that the others were, starting the cycle all over again.
