Question 10: Mark's History (Or Lack Thereof)

I believe that the author intentionally leaves out a lot of Mark’s personal story because he wants to place an emphasis on the man versus nature aspect of the story.

Regarding man versus nature, Mark is stranded in hostile territory. No, there are no animals or other human beings out to get him, but the alien aspect of Mars proves to be a worthy opponent, even for a genius scientist. Mark has to focus on what is directly in front of him (“Mars is a barren wasteland and I am completely alone here. I already knew that, of course. But there's a difference between knowing it and really experiencing it.”). This is similar to any human pioneer.

The author wants the reader to feel this as well – a focus on what is truly important at the end of the day, which is survival. By having the reader not consider the possibilities of Mark – such as if he misses his family, what he missed about his life, etc., the author sets up the reader to not divert from what is currently happening in the story. Usually, a reader will have other questions and concerns that don’t pertain to what is happening to the story at the moment.

Human nostalgia is incredibly powerful, and it is enough to drive anyone to irrational acts or for them to get caught up in emotional episodes while their wellbeing diminishes. Any human connections or ties that Mark has is only briefly mentioned, such as his family on Thanksgiving, and it goes to show that Mark is mostly acting out of survival, as he should. If he were to think and focus on his connections back on Earth, there would also be a chance that his mindset would diminish. It would not be hard to become depressed if you are the only human being stranded on the planet Mars, so to focus on one task to the next is genius if you want to persevere to the next day.