Throughout Andy Weir’s The Martian, time is a key factor in the
main character Mark’s survival. There are time periods in the novel when it seems
to drag on, such as when he must make long journeys, including the initial trip
from Earth to Mars and his journey to the Pathfinder.
In these moments, Mark is relaxed, which shines through his diary writing
causing the reader a mimicked sense of ease. This sense is also felt when
considering factors that must play out over a long sense of time. For example,
when the food supply is, for a time, upped to last 900 sols, Mark and the reader
are not thinking urgently about starvation, but believe that over time a
solution will emerge in order to avoid a famine or death for him.
In
addition to periods in which time seems to move slowly, there are also moments
in which Mark must utilize every second in getting a task done. One quick
moment in which there is an error or mistake can cost him his life. For
example, when Mark is fixing the hole in his space suit, he has only 60 seconds
until the resin hardens (161). Because of this, he must act carefully to avoid
any mistakes. Likewise, when preparing to launch in the mission to ship food to
Mars, “Even a single day’s difference would result in missing Mars entirely”
(175). NASA had to launch at an exact, planned time for even the possibility of
completing the task successfully. In these moments, and others in which
precision in time is essential, readers feel a sense of urgency alongside the
characters. The writing is shortened and each moment is accounted for, leaving
readers in constant suspense, as each moment can either make or break Mark’s
chance at survival.
Throughout
many of the texts we have read thus far, time is looked at as a big picture. King
and Adichie, for example, call for justice to take place over a longer period
of time. King wants readers to act in the moment, but he does so with the
future in mind. Adichie explains the ways in which moments throughout her
friend’s daughter’s life can lead her into a larger viewpoint of feminism.
However, in The Martian, Weir makes
it clear that there are times in which every moment counts. Every moment has
the ability to affect or even drastically change the one after it. Throughout
the novel, small moments add up in order to ultimately create the outcome of
Mark’s life. He does not survive by simply looking at the big picture. He must
do this, but also be sure to utilize each second—especially in moments of
crisis.
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