The Martian Human Nature

The idea that meant the most to me in “The Martian” was the idea that nothing is worth more than a human life. In the novel, no effort was spared in saving the life of a single person: Mark Watney. NASA built a million dollar space shuttle to send Mark Watney the necessary supplies he required in order to live until he could be brought back to Earth. JPL, under the command of NASA’s Teddy Sanders, worked nonstop for months in order to provide the spacecraft. Hundreds of people worked tirelessly through the night and into over-time in order to finish on time. Engineers, mechanics and astrophysicists worked to build Mark Watney a life saving shuttle. When the shuttle failed the effort didn’t stop there and a new plan was formed. The world’s greatest minds worked together to create a new plan in order to save Mark,who’s life was still in great danger. Organizations and countries all worked together to put the new plan into action, it required China to donate its booster, JPL to construct another shuttle and the Hermes crew to add 533 days to their space travel. None of those who helped flinched or thought about the cost that was being placed on one man; they just helped because it was their nature. The first chapter of the novel summarizes this philosophy perfectly: “If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don't care, but they're massively outnumbered by the people who do.” ( Weir 23). The idea that struck me most in the novel was how willing people are to help, no matter the cost.

The Martian- Movie vs. Novel

I started reading the martian by Andy Weir after watching the movie and have been incapable of putting the book down. The Martian is a very long and detailed novel but it is so intriguing the length goes unnoticed. I preferred the novel over the movie because it had more detail and scientific justification. There were some major differences from the novel to the movie but it still managed to capture the essence of the story. In the novel, communication is lost between Mark Watney, the fellow stranded on Mars, and NASA, the organization who sent him there and is planning his safe return. The communication loss causes a major problem in the novel because Mark is travelling across the red planet is unaware of an approaching sandstorm. This is a perfect example of dramatic irony because only NASA knows about the storm, this extra twist added more excitement to the journey. The sandstorm made the trip across Mars even more dangerous, creating more anticipation. Another major difference from the film was the ending: in the film commander Lewis saves Mark. In novel it is Dr Beck who retrieves Mark still strapped to the MAV and though Mark suggests an iron man escape he did not attempt as seen in the movie. The film version of the ending created more drama with Mark floating in space and the added redemption of commander Lewis. Besides the retrieval of Mark Watney the ending is also different in that the book ends with him on the Hermes and the movie ends with him back on earth. Overall the movie kept true to the essence of the novel and none of the changes took away from the story or disappointed the audience.

Annotated Bibliography

D'Ammassa, Don. "The Lost World." Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 1 Mar. 2016

Don D’Ammassa hints that “The Lost World" existed before it was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He comments on how many adventure stories are similar with a universal theme of a lost world hidden from civilization. Though much of the world is now charted he appreciates the genre's recent return in novels written by modern thriller authors. In the famous novel a scientist by the name of Challenger discovers a plateau where Jurassic life thrives, D’Ammassa identifies some of the flaws in the story specifically the reason why the winged creatures stayed on the isolated plateau. He also comments on the many sequels that were made, only one of which he believes is worth reading. D’Ammassa explains the novel’s influence on film: the novel was turned into many films though only the silent film of 1925 was deemed good enough to capture the essence of the story. In D'Ammassa opinion, “The Lost World” is not the greatest written adventure novel but it inspired the many more that followed.

Wong, Amy R. "Arthur Conan Doyle's 'great new adventure story': journalism in the lost world." Studies in the Novel 47.1 (2015): 60+. General OneFile. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.

In Amy Wong’s review of “The Lost World” she identifies the plot similarities to other adventure novels such as Jule Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” The main points however are to discuss the style of writing rather than the plot and content. Wong discusses the importance of journalism to the novel and Doyle’s role in journalism. Doyle’s aspiration for journalism are seen through this novel as he attempts to add a more professional and romantic style to the genre. He based the journalist character, Edward Malone, on E.D. Morel who launched a campaign against the brutality of slave labor. Wong relates the character's inspiration to the fact that Arthur Conan Doyle was a passionate advocate for a just society and was strongly against individuals who were unjustly accused of crimes. Doyle’s opinions and journalistic style in the novel “return literary authority to romance” (61). It is Wong’s opinion that the novel as a whole is successful in joining the press and literary imagination to create professional journalism.

Great Gatsby 1974 Cold Open

The Great Gatsby 1974 cold open does a good job at introducing the plot and setting for the film. The Great Gatsby cold open introduces the setting with the grandeur of the Gatsby Estate. It shows the large pool, the luxurious study with a piano and gold running through all the fixtures, the large pillars, and chandeliers: all of these convey an upper class setting. The cold open also gives a hint to the theme: the hollowness of the upper class. It gives clue to the theme because it depicts the mansion of Gatsby however there are no people in any of the scenes, the house is empty. Each room of the house is empty which gives a sign to the theme that the upper class just like their houses are hollow and shallow. It also introduces a hint to the conflict, in the bedroom and study there are pictures of a woman however there are no signs of a woman present and the JG symbol implies they belong to a single person of those initials. This introduces a possible conflict because we can see that JG loves a woman that is not with him. The cold open, however does not hook the viewer because it gives the impression that the movie will be very slow moving. It doesn’t hook the viewer because the cold open consists of no movement there are only shots of empty rooms coupled with slow music. The slow music and emptiness of the house sets a sad tone to the movie.