Layered Questions

I will be answering the following question:
1. How does Harry Bittering react to being stranded on Mars and to the gradual assimilation of his friends and family? Discuss how his reaction relates to the concept of "the other." What might his reaction suggest about the social climate of the United States in 1949 (postwar culture)?


Harry initially reacts to being stranded on Mars extremely differently than his family and friends. While they quickly accepted their life on Mars when they found out that Earth had been nuked and there would be no more ships to and from Mars, Harry refused to do so. It is first shown by his reluctance to eat any of the food grown on Mars and then more explicitly when he begins to build the rocket and no one else wants to help him.

This relates to fear of the "other" because he refuses to eat the food specifically because it was grown on Mars. He even indirectly acknowledges this on page 134: "Onions but not onions, carrots but not carrots. Taste: the same but different." I feel as if the bolded phrase perfectly embodies this, as the "other" is one who is just that: the same, but different. His fear of the other is also shown by his desire to get back to Earth even after it was nuked to pieces and they were perfectly safe on Mars.

Harry's reaction towards the "other" suggests that the postwar social climate in the United States was largely built around fear of the "other" and the "unknown." Most prominently, this was around the time of the second Red Scare, in which the population was largely afraid of being taken over by communists (or, the "other") and feared them due to their different ideologies.

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