The Martial Chronicals
Uploaded by Admin on Nov 21, 1999
In The Martial Chronicals, Ray Bradbury provides a glimpse into the future that not only looks at people from a technological standpoint, but from a human one as well. His well crafted, almost poetic stories are science fiction in setting only. They put much more emphasis on the apathy and inhumanity of modern society, rather than the technology. (Bryfonski, 68)
Ray Dougless Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 to Leonard Spaulding and Ester Bradbury in Waukegan, Illinois. He began his writing at the young age of twelve, mostly for his own amusement. His fantastic sytle of writing was developed during this time as he read the Oz books, Alice in Wonderland, Tarzan, Grimms' Fairy Tales, and the works of Poe. In 1934 his family moved to Los Angeles, where Bradbury attended high school and joined the Los Angeles Science-Fantasy Society. While a member, Bradbury published four issues of his own magazine, Futuria Fantasia. After graduating from high school in 1938 he took various jobs which allowed him to devote much of his time to writing. His first story, published in 1940 by Script magazine, was "It's Not the Heat, It's the Hu" and established Bradbury's popular theme of social irritation. By 1942, Bradbury was able to earn enough money writing that he could give up his job selling newspapers and devote all of his time to what he loved. (Candee 88)
As some critics would agree, the term "science-fiction" does not apply to Bradbury's work. Most of his stories are more along the lines of fantasy with an intense understanding of human nature. In "The Green Morning", a man named Benjamin Driscoll arives on Mars looking for a job and a way to fit in. Before long, however, he faints, as many people do, because of the thin air of Mars. Upon waking, the first thing he notices is the lack of trees on the Martian plains. He decides that his job should be to plant trees. He works for weeks planting trees of all kinds across the Martian countryside but the lack of rain leads him to believe that all of his efforts are in vain. That night the rains come, and when Driscoll awakens the next morning, he finds a Mars covered with trees over six feet tall, "nourished by alien and magical soil"(Bradbury 77), and producing a "mountain river"(Bradbury 77) of new air. As Bradbury says, "Science fiction...