| 09/03/2015 6:55 am |
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 OFFLINE | As we read the first few chapters of The Martian, reflect on the struggle of being in an overwhelming situation and isolation. Consider Mark Watney's situation and how he deals with the realization that he is stuck on Mars.
Reflect on all of the following five statements or questions, and write and post your reflections
- Does Mark's reaction to his abandonment seem normal? How would you react in that situation?
- How is Mark's sense of humor as much a survival skill as his knowledge of botany? Do you have a favorite funny line of his?
- How do you think the author creates an emotional bond between reader and character?
- Did you find the science and technology behind Mark's problem-solving accessible? How did that information add to the realism of the story?
- With the atmosphere of Mars being so inhospitable to life, how would you cope with the extensive dangers around you? What would you fear the most?
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| 09/04/2015 12:46 am |
NEWBIE
Regist.: 09/04/2015
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OFFLINE | 1. Watney's reaction to his abandonment doesn't seem totally abnormal, but his humor appears forced. I also thought it odd that he spent so much time explaining how the Ares missions worked. If I were Watney, I'd have spent less time explaining for the laymen that might read my log in the distant future and more time worrying about potatoes in the near future. But maybe that's why Watney feels the need to describe how he got to Mars, in order to believe that he can go back to Earth.
2. Mark's sense of humor is probably the only thing keeping him from turning him into a Martian. In other words, his comedic relief is just that: relief. It's his way of dealing with reality without freaking out. My favorite Watneyism as of this moment is "hydrazine is serious death."
3. Weir uses common needs (like food and water), humor, and colloquialisms to take an astronaut's unique experience on a foreign planet and make it relatable. We bond through commonalities, and Weir's character is a sort of every man that most people can find a way to identify with.
4. It wasn't difficult for me to understand what Watney was doing. That being said I don't yet understand why Watney couldn't have run the calculations through the Hab's computer, instead of relying on approximations.
It added a sense that Watney kind of knew what he was doing, and gave the reader a further peek into Watney's skills as an astronaut.
5. I would be really reluctant to leave the Hab. Like really. Is it that important? No? I'll stay inside eating and watching Three's Company.
Honestly...I would fear my own incompetence the most. What if something important breaks and I can't fix it? Whoops. I guess that's why when you leave an astronaut on Mars, you leave the mechanical engineer. |
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| 09/04/2015 8:40 pm |
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OFFLINE | 1. I agree with Isabella! The way how the book started was completely different then the way I anticipated it because of all the calculations Mr. Watney was brainstorming in order to survive. When Mark was left behind on Mars during a storm it came to my conclusion he accepted his natural instinct for survival. He was obviously put through multiple scenarios while preparing to arrive on Mars back on Earth in case an event had occurred on his journey. Since Mr. Watney has multiple backgrounds of expertise he could calculate the amount of his daily diet and what he needed to construct.
2. His effort for survival on a planet all by himself must have been nerve racking, so his humor was a way to ease himself while still being sane. I recall from one of the Astronauts leaving behind her device which included music and movies that seemed to crack Mark up frequently. My favorite scene is when Mark is making fun of The Dukes of Hazards because the General Lee outruns the police cars that are chasing after them. Mark comes to the conclusion why Rusco doesn't arrest them at their homestead while not driving?
"Hollywood man! Hollywood!!!"-Erich
3. Towards the end of chapter 6, Andy Weir makes a connection with the reader how the people back on Earth have found out Mark is still alive through surveillance while back on Mars; Mark has no clue about the impact he has created back at home. When I read this part I began to vision how Mark had impacted NASA as a whole because of not thoroughly being careful. It felt like one of those movies/plays where the audience knows something that the character on the screen/stage doesn't, but you can't tell them whats about to happen.
4. Mark definitely improvised on the equipment that was left behind at his disposal. His mathematics/botany skills payed off because he managed to show his courage while thinking he may never see another human being again. He did manage to use the Hab's computer which significantly aided his ability to live on Mars. His estimated calculations of what needed to be accomplished to survive on Mars demonstrated the realism of a fiction book actually being compared to a possible real life scenario.
5. I believe my natural instincts on Mars at first would be slim to none for survival of living another day, at first. Over a short period of time my realization to survive would encourage me to perform things I would never imagine doing. If my courage was like Mark to explore ways of surviving on a hospitable planet then I would definitely brace myself to fight and see another day.
I thinking the most feared thing for me on Mars would be our knowledge of how little we know of the planet and if it holds any martian lifeforms that could potentially harm me. The movie/documentary industry has got me on this one. |
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| 09/06/2015 4:17 pm |
NEWBIE
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| 09/06/2015 4:29 pm |
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| 09/06/2015 9:52 pm |
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OFFLINE |  Originally Posted by ][quote=:
Erich, 4. Mark definitely improvised on the equipment that was left behind at his disposal. His mathematics/botany skills payed off because he managed to show his courage while thinking he may never see another human being again. He did manage to use the Hab's computer which significantly aided his ability to live on Mars. His estimated calculations of what needed to be accomplished to survive on Mars demonstrated the realism of a fiction book actually being compared to a possible real life scenario.
I wanted to express my agreements with your statement: " His estimated calculations of what needed to be accomplished to survive on Mars demonstrated the realism of a fiction book actually being compared to a possible real life scenario." I also feel that Andy Weir decided to include the complex calculations and scientific terms to make the story more realistic. However, with me being a non-science major, I found a few of the terminologies/jargon unreachable. Did you have the same issues?
I will admit some of the terminology from "The Martian" was a little bit out of my vocabulary. Mr. Watney did mention a few words that I haven't encountered in a while from conversations with others and classes that I have enrolled in from the past. The calculations that he managed to estimate for his survival is something I couldn't even fathom of thinking. He really did have the courage to calculate and perform operations that probably most of us would be too scared of. My area that I plan on working in as a profession will be a science field. This book will be a good re-grasp of what's to come for vocabulary wise terminology. |
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| 09/06/2015 10:03 pm |
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OFFLINE | Originally Posted by ][quote=:
2. His effort for survival on a planet all by himself must have been nerve racking, so his humor was a way to ease himself while still being sane. I recall from one of the Astronauts leaving behind her device which included music and movies that seemed to crack Mark up frequently. My favorite scene is when Mark is making fun of The Dukes of Hazards because the General Lee outruns the police cars that are chasing after them. Mark comes to the conclusion why Rusco doesn't arrest them at their homestead while not driving?
"Hollywood man! Hollywood!!!"-Erich
Why do you think Watney hates disco? XD
"He can't dance to the music?" No disco on the ceiling and people to dance with is pretty hard to enjoy, at least in my opinion. |
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| 09/06/2015 11:18 pm |
NEWBIE
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OFFLINE | Excited that we have begun!!! |
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| 09/07/2015 3:09 pm |
NEWBIE
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| 09/09/2015 11:47 am |
NEWBIE
Regist.: 09/09/2015
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OFFLINE | 1. Does Mark's reaction to his abandonment seem normal? How would you react in that situation?
I'm really enjoying the book. I love science fiction. But I'm wondering about how Mark Watney is written as a character. In E. M. Forester's words, he seems to be more of a flat character than a round one--Mark doesn't seem to change or develop (at least, not yet). He's like the energizer bunny: I think most people (including myself) who are abandoned on Mars would have to cry a bit after each setback, then get up and get to work on solving the problem. He's frustrated by failure and complications, but he seems to get up almost immediately and get to solving the problem. I think human behavior is more complicated, and more emotional than that. All that time of solitude would be difficult for most people (I've been on Catholic and Buddhist retreats where some people couldn't take four hours of silence, and had to leave by lunchtime). I think he would be more profoundly troubled by the difficulty of his struggle and the solitude and the silence--not that he couldn't get through it, but it would be harder with a lot more emotional ups and downs, and he would be changed by the experience. And he doesn't seem to have had a romantic relationship with anyone (that we know about yet). But I really do like the book, and I like his character--it's just that there seems to be something missing to me. I would hope that if I were in the same situation I would try to be as enterprising as he is, but I'm sure I'd be a lot lonelier, and a lot more emotional. |
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| 09/10/2015 6:33 pm |
NEWBIE
Regist.: 09/08/2015
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OFFLINE | 1. If you look at it he been training a long time for this mission and he knew the risk going into it, that things could go wrong; true being left on the planet by yourself might have been the least of their worries when they were preparing for the mission but his knowledge and intense training prepared him for anything so his reaction was normal. He does his video blogs not just to inform a future crew but to keep his mind as ease so he does not go crazy. If it was me I would be scared but then I would try and figure out how to live for as long as I can and try to use my knowledge to keep me alive and sane.
2. Mark had to be scared and worried he would not make it off Mars and never get to see his family and friends, he is in a horrible situation and the only way he can keep going is comedy to keep him going because he could have said screw it and ended it but he kept his chin up and was like yeah I am going to survive and I am going to figure do things like a boss and once I go home. I can see my loves one and also it would be an amazing story to tell the grandchildren.
3. Through the story Mark is recording video to let people know that he is alive and safe and if he dies they will know how he really died and there people who blog or use other social media to tell people what they are doing throughout there day whether people want to know are not. Also he gardens and eat and drink water for survival. Also in ruff situation we try and make things work to the best of our abilities and that is what Mark doing.
4. Mark was a botanist and very smart and also knew what each part of the ship that he had to make it possible to live even using the other spacesuits to hold things are help him breath and keep warm. He use what he knew to survive like a person should do in a bad situation, the only thing I wonder is why he can't find a way to put rocket booster on the rover to make it go faster, I know I would.
5. Bella idea does not sound to bad grab some cover and watch tv and eat that would be amazing true I would die but you know probably would die like that on Earth anyways lol. No I would use my knowledge and experience to keep me alive or contact people from where I was so they could tell me what to do to survive and so I do not go crazy not talking to someone. Also I would have better movies the three company, think of how fun would it be watching Star Wars in actual space, that would be amazing, then i would pretend to be flying a ship, yes that is what I would do |
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| 09/11/2015 8:26 pm |
NEWBIE
Regist.: 09/03/2015
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OFFLINE | 1. Like all of you, I enjoy reading this book (even if I am terribly behind,j ust finished chapter 6). Normally, I do not read much science fiction. I might pick up more books like this now. I feel like Daniel, I think that Mark is portrayed by the author as too confident. All the setbacks he suffers must rattle him somewhat given that he is faced with starvation. The explanation offered in the book, that all astronauts are "inherently insane," is not convincing to me.
Also, Mark would not only be sacred of death, but also of a long period of solitude; 1000+ days of being alone seems pretty scary to me, too. And he must know his family on earth is suffering.
But I do appreciate the humor Mark has. Especially the joke about the private Hindenburg.
Great choice of book! |
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Thilo Schimmel
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| 09/12/2015 4:08 pm |
Junior Member
Regist.: 08/18/2015
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Posts: 2
OFFLINE | Originally Posted by ] Daniel Coleman 1. Does Mark's reaction to his abandonment seem normal? How would you react in that situation?
I'm really enjoying the book. I love science fiction. But I'm wondering about how Mark Watney is written as a character. In E. M. Forester's words, he seems to be more of a flat character than a round one--Mark doesn't seem to change or develop (at least, not yet). He's like the energizer bunny: I think most people (including myself) who are abandoned on Mars would have to cry a bit after each setback, then get up and get to work on solving the problem. He's frustrated by failure and complications, but he seems to get up almost immediately and get to solving the problem. I think human behavior is more complicated, and more emotional than that. All that time of solitude would be difficult for most people (I've been on Catholic and Buddhist retreats where some people couldn't take four hours of silence, and had to leave by lunchtime). I think he would be more profoundly troubled by the difficulty of his struggle and the solitude and the silence--not that he couldn't get through it, but it would be harder with a lot more emotional ups and downs, and he would be changed by the experience. And he doesn't seem to have had a romantic relationship with anyone (that we know about yet). But I really do like the book, and I like his character--it's just that there seems to be something missing to me. I would hope that if I were in the same situation I would try to be as enterprising as he is, but I'm sure I'd be a lot lonelier, and a lot more emotional.[/quote:
Daniel, I must say I truly enjoyed reading your response. I loved the example you provided in regards to human strength and how some people couldn't stand a four hour meditation. I would also like to say that I feel that his reaction is not as human as I would have hoped (maybe he'll become more relatable as the story progresses). Nonetheless, do you feel that Mark's reaction to his abandonment would be different if he had a significant other? I am anxious to discover more about his life on Earth.
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Discussion Questions CH 1-7
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