Stay Gold Space Cowboy

Action, adventure, space, and fantasy, even the title, The Martian screams science fiction. Weir, like other sci fi writers, has mingled elements of the western genre with a hint of a sea story in this novel. Additionally, the importance of science is a key element of this narrative of the botanist, mechanical engineer’s battle to stay alive on Mars. 

The influence of the western genre is first to surface in the sandstorm of the red desert environment. The main character, Mark, is injured by an antenna and left for dead in an adverse environment. Like the west, he is left in an uninhabited frontier. He has to settle the land in order to stay alive. He plants potatoes and uses his feces to fertilize the crop. He separates hydrazine to get hydrogen and makes oxygen. These combine to form the H2O he needs to water the plants. He uses ingenuity to battle the elements as he waits for someone to save him. He rides the land on his mechanical horse, the rover. The villain is the environment of Mars that he must tame with the supplies he has from Earth. Once NASA is aware Mark is alive, they even send the Calvary to save him. Mark has a western adventure with the background of outer space, the strength of humor and perseverance when faced with adversity, and that stresses the importance of science.

An analogy can also be made to the sea stories. Mark is marooned and left for dead on Mars like a Robinson Crusoe or Cast Away on their island. Like these protagonists, he then proceeds to use his brain to survive the elements. Unlike these protagonists, Mark is only alone at the beginning of the book but begins to have communication with NASA through the rover. He is ultimately saved by the crew that left him.

In contrast to space operas like Star Wars and Serenity, The Martian is missing the romantic features, the community on Mars, as well as the huge military battles.  The frontier is the same as well as the fiction created by the fantasy of the future. In some cases, the fantasy of The Martian seems more like reality than fantasy when things go bad, especially with his exhaustion at getting water, food and oxygen to his failed back to lost communication on the last leg of his journey.

Mark Watney has a type of hero’s journey as he faces and overcomes conflicts for a return to Earth. The only difference is that Mark’s character does not evolve; he is the perfect astronaut from beginning to end. In fact, the book almost ends as it begins --- with a dust storm that threatens Mark’s survival. There is unity shown between humans, even US’s rival of the Chinese, joining together to save Mark and bring him back to Earth. The west and space has been conquered and the land on Mars has created crops. A future society can survive in this untamed desert.