In Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles," the case of Mars is closely similar to the expansion of America into the West.
Ray Bradbury's anthology of “The Martian Chronicles” is a series of short stories, in which the main theme is exploring and conquering Mars the way the Americans expanded into the American West. The real expansion through the American West was one of hardships and joys. It varied greatly, depending on where and when the experience was occurring. For example, it could be a time of hardship while traveling along the Oregon Trail during the winter, where temperatures reach below zero, food is scarce, and sickness is drifting through the families. Otherwise, it can be a time of extreme success, like as a gold miner fills his basket with pounds of gold he discovered in the ground. In The Martian Chronicles, most of the events occurring would represent the hardship and suffering of conquering the new land. This novel is based mainly upon a negative sense, always resulting in death and killing. Right from the beginning, pessimistic viewpoints arose, with the whole story of Mr. Xxx, Mr. Yyy, etc.
Furthermore, it displayed in “The Summer Night” the thousands of dead bodies and dead cities that the children wandered through for fun. Almost every story had the death of a person, whether it be a Martian or human being. The only positive sense in the book of expanding and conquering new land was the story “Way in the Middle of the Air,” in which the slaves escaped their lifestyle and was able to go to Mars. This is very similar to how the Americans escaped from the British in order to start a new life with a clean slate and do whatever they want to do. Other examples of this negative sense of conquering was shown in “The Musicians,” where the kids would play in the dead city and make it a game as if they were hiding the fact that they went to the city, and play in it before the Firemen came to burn it down. The final example for this negative sense was in “The Locusts,” where it portrayed large numbers of humans arriving at Mars and disrupting the natural beauty it once had.
