science fiction - isa. ty ba

‘Mark Watney is not the first person to set foot on Mars; yet, we see that he is definitely the

first person to be called ‘The Martian.’’

Discuss the titular significance of the novel and connect Andy Weir’s tale of surviving against

the odds with one other text of your choice that features similar themes.

Mark Watney is the only and the first person to live on Mars He spent an unplanned stay on the

planet all alone. Since his residence didn’t support him enough to survive until the Ares 4 crew

arrived, he tried a hand with his botany skills and thus manages food with his potato produce.

He also handles every technical fault in the Safe Hab like the way he would on earth. None of

his colleagues had had this privilege of living on Mars like a guest who wouldn’t go. From all the

astronauts ever been on mars, Mark is the only one who got to practice all the theory he

learned of the Martian atmosphere, soil, climate and life. Therefore, the title of the novel is

justified by calling Mark Watney “The Martian.”

In Andy weirs book ‘The Martian,’ Mark Watney is stranded alone on planet Mars. He misses his

friends and craves for someone’s presence to communicate with. He feels very lonely up there

all alone. He is struggling to sustain himself till the next mission arrives. Deep down, he defeats

his feelings and thoughts of being abandoned by his friends by thinking that it wasn’t their fault.

There is fear surrounding him in every moment of his life. He constantly worries about his

calculations and keeps checking it again and again for the well-being of his plants and himself.

The media plays an important role in saving Mark Watney. Since the Media is speculating the

news and how-abouts of Watney’s survival on Mars, MASA is obligated to bring him safe and

alive. These situations points on themes like loneliness, need for human interaction, fight to

survive and the role of Media among many others.

One similar book I found to the themes of The Martian is The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Piscine

or Pi along with his family are sailing to North America with some wild animals from their zoo.

They are attacked by an unexpected storm in the Pacific Ocean where only he survives the

shipwreck along with a Bengal tiger on a lifeboat for 227 days till he is rescued. Pi is alone in the

vast ocean with a wild animal. Unlike Watney, he has a living creature to talk to but like

Watney’s experience on Mars, he receives no response. Pi is fearful that the tiger may feed on

him. He tries to ration the food so that he can stay alive. He feels abandoned by his family and

feels lonely in the vast ocean. There is no way he can communicate with help. The role of media

in The Life of Pi, in contrast with the role of media in The Martian, does its main purpose of

informing the public of his trials on the ocean. The media and the officials at Mexico, do not

believe his story about Richard Parker (the tiger) and other animals. Instead they think he is

speaking out of his insanity of being away from humans too long.

References:

 Martel, Yann. The Life of Pi. Knopf Canada, 2001.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi 

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My ISA of sci-fi in TYBA at Carmel College, Goa. I don't remember the marks I scored for this though. This took me back to 2020-2021, the year I was in the final year of BA.