For Monday: Bradbury. The Martian Chronicles (see below)

STORIES: “The Old Ones,” “The Martian,” “The Luggage Store,” “The Off Season,” “The Watchers,” and “The Silent Towns”

Group B/F should answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In the story, “The Silent Towns,” Walter Gripp is one of the only men left on Mars and is desperately lonely. By the end of the story, he runs away from the only other woman and never answers the phone again. What made him swear off human contact forever? Just that she was unattractive? Or does this story say something else about the illusion of human companionship?

Q2: In “The Luggage Store,” Father Peregrine explains how their relationship with Earth has changed: “Well, that’s how it is now. Earth is China.” What does he mean by this? How does this story also explain what it would mean to become a ‘Martian’ for the first generation of settlers?

Q3: When questioning his “son” in the story, “The Martian,” the father is told, “You don’t question Providence. If you can’t have the reality, a dream is just as good.” Does the story seem to support this? Is a dream—or an illusion—as good as the real thing as long as enough people believe in it? How might this relate to the settling of Mars itself?

Q4: How might Sam Parkhill, the main character in the story, “The Off Season,” represent the very reason that Earth is blowing itself to pieces in the night sky? Why is he so paranoid about the Martians? And what is his general attitude towards the new world he’s settled with his dreams?