Nicholas Barrero-Pinzon

English 11

8 March 2019

Mr. Barazzuol                         Literature Picture Project: An Introduction

The story, “Dark They Were, And Golden-Eyed,” by Ray Bradbury is about a family, The Bitterings, who along with other families, go to Mars to colonize the planet and to escape the war on Earth. While living on Mars, they notice that the food and animals that they brought from Earth is changing, and so are they. All the settlers soon discover that New York has been destroyed, and so no more rockets will be sent to Mars. The patriarch of the family, Harry Bittering, convinces some of the men in the town to help him build a rocket. Eventually, the townspeople convince Harry to give up on building the rocket and to leave with them to another region on Mars. A few years later, a rescue team from Earth come to look for them, but instead only find “Martians.” For this project, pictures are paired up with quotes from the story in order to provide visualizations for the various literary elements in the story. A short explanation is also provided so that the reader can understand the connections between the picture and the quote, and what literary element they represent.

1) Exposition

“The man felt his hair flutter and the tissues of his body draw tight as if he were standing at the centre of a vacuum… The children looked up at him. His face was cold… He picked up the luggage in his cold hands. ‘Here we go,’ he said – a man standing on the edge of a sea, ready to wade in and be drowned,” (Bradbury 1).

– The reader can tell that Harry Bittering is not all that comfortable with living on Mars and is quite afraid. Harry is mortified about having to abandon his home and coming to live on Mars. The assimilation of Harry and the other townspeople is foreshadowed at the end of the quote.

2) Rising Action Example #1

“’The rockets will get through, some day.’ ‘In five years maybe. It takes that long to build one. Father, Father, what will we do?’… ‘Build a rocket, that’s what!’” (Bradbury 3, 6).

– The announcement of the destruction of New York and the Mars rockets is what causes all the townspeople, except for Harry, to accept the fact that they are stuck on Mars. Harry, instead of accepting that he is stuck on Mars and that he must adapt to Mars, decides that he must build a rocket. He lulls himself into a false sense of security by telling himself that he can build a rocket that can take him back to Earth.

3) Rising Action Example #2

“They came to a small deserted Martian villa with a good view of the valley… said Mrs. Bittering, ‘if you could move up here to this villa for the summer.’ [Harry Bittering] said. ‘…There’s work to be done on the rocket.’ But as he worked that night, the thought of the cool blue marble villa entered his mind… the rocket seemed less important,” (Bradbury 9).

– Harry starts to become tired of fighting the inevitable and begins to realize that Mars is not as bad as he thinks it is. He begins to mentally transform into a Martian and forget the worries that he once had. He thinks about going to a new home where he will no longer have any ties to Earth.

4) Climax

“Bittering came out. ‘Going where?’… ‘Up to the villa,’ said the man… They shut off the gas, the water, they locked the doors and walked away… [Bittering’s wife] was golden and slender as his daughter… [Harry] seemed almost as young as their eldest son… They turned their backs to the valley. Arm in arm they walked silently down a path of clear running spring water,” (Bradbury 10).

– Harry realizes that he too has become a Martian and accepts his new life. The Bitterings and the townspeople leave their homes and head to the villa, leaving behind all connections they once had to Earth. They all walk together to symbolize that they have assimilated and have become one with Mars.

5) Falling Action

“A rocket fell out of the sky… Men leaped out of it… But the American-built town of cottages, peach trees, and theatres was silent…The rocket men searched the hills. The captain established head-quarters in an abandoned bar. His lieutenant came back to report,” (Bradbury 11).

– A rescue team finally arrived, but it was too late as the whole town had already left. The captain and his men find abandoned buildings, just like the first settlers who found the abandoned buildings of the ancient Martians. The reader sees that the townspeople never returned to the town, having been fully assimilated.

6) Denouement (conclusion)

“’The town’s empty, but we found native life in the hills, sir. Dark people. Yellow eyes. Martians… [The Captain] tapped a large fresh map he had thumb-tacked to the top of an empty table. ‘Lots to be done, Lieutenant.’… ‘[A]re you listening, Lieutenant?’ The lieutenant snapped his gaze from the blue color and the quiet mist of the hills far beyond the town. ‘What? Oh, yes, Sir,’” (Bradbury 12).

– The Captain and his men decide to make it their mission to conquer Mars for Earth again, perhaps even eradicate the Martian population. The reader can see that Mars is attempting to assimilate the rocket men. The Lieutenant becomes mesmerized by the Martian Landscape, just like Harry and his family.

7) Physical Setting

“They moved along the canal… Up there, a big river, he thought, a Martian river,” (Bradbury 8).

– The reader gets an image of a Mars that is very from the one they know, where there are rivers and other bodies of water. Mars is described as having a landscape similar to Earth, with mountains, valleys, and rivers, but remains different by maintaining rusty looks of Mars. The river plays a role in the story, as it is where Harry begins to feel Mars changing him.

8) Emotional Setting

“Staring at the mountains wildly he thought: Are you up there? All the dead ones, you Martians? Well, here we are, alone, cut off! Come down, move us out! We’re helpless!” (Bradbury 4).

– Despite being hospitable, Mars still feels desolate due it only being inhabited by the refugees from Earth. Harry feels helpless on Mars, and feels as if though at any moment, anybody could eliminate him and the townspeople. He also feels alone due to him being the only that is worried about the fact that New York has been destroyed, cutting them off from Earth.

9) Conflict Type

“’Do you see? They’re different. They’ve changed! They’re not peach blossoms anymore!’… ‘We’ve got to get away from this.’… ‘We must get away,’… ‘We’ll eat this stuff and then we’ll change… He looked with dismay at their house… [‘A]ll warped out of shape. It’s not an Earthman’s house anymore.’… He put on his coat and tie. ‘…We’ve got to do something now…’ [H]e was gone,” (Bradbury 4, 5).

– One of the main conflicts in the story is that of person vs. environment. Mars requires that the people, the plants, and the animals that inhabit the planet transform and adapt. Mars as an environment, and the changes it brings, is what drives Harry mad for a while.

10) Ending type

“’They hadn’t the foggiest notion of what happened to this town or its people.’…’What do you think of naming those mountains the Lincoln Mountains, this canal the Washington Canal… And why not make this the Einstein Valley,” (Bradbury 12).

– The story has an unresolved ending, as the reader does not find out whether the rocket men will also transform or if they will find out what happened to the townspeople. The rocket men decide that they will just colonize Mars again, showing that humanity has not learned its lesson. It is inevitable that the cycle of colonization and assimilation will continue.

11) Irony Example

“The town’s empty, but we found native life in the hills, sir. Dark people. Yellow eyes. Martians. Very friendly… They learn English fast,” (Bradbury 11).

– The reader knows that the Martians are the former townspeople, unlike the rescue team. The rescue team is unable to piece together the clues to figure out what happened to the townspeople. The rescue team becomes more concerned with reclaiming Mars, thus continuing the cycle of colonization.

12) Suspense

“Laura stumbled through the settlement, crying… ‘Mother, Father – the war, Earth!’ she sobbed. ‘A radio flash just came. Atom bombs hit New York! All the space rockets blown up. No more rockets to Mars, ever!’… Laura wept. ‘We’re stranded on Mars, for ever and ever!’” (Bradbury 3).

– This moment in the story builds suspense in three ways: unpredictability, the complication of matters, and the application of pressure to the protagonist. The unpredictability comes into play with the fact that there is an uncertainty of whether they will be ever able to return. Matters are complicated since the characters no longer have a way of knowing what is happening on Earth. More pressure is applied to Harry, who was already nervous about living on Mars.

13) Characterization Example

“Alone, thought Bittering. Only a thousand of us here. No way back… Sweat poured from his face and his hands and his body; he was drenched in the hotness of his fear,” (Bradbury 3).

– The reader can find direct and indirect characterization in this quote. The reader can clearly see that Harry Bittering is afraid that he, and the other settlers on Mars, will not be able to return to Earth. One can also tell that Harry Bittering does not react well under pressure, nor can he handle sudden complications very well.