The Martian ChroniclesBy Ray Bradbury

pp. 145-181

The Silent Towns

• Mars is deserted. Walter Gripp is left behind, and he hears a phone. He misses the call, but eventually finds Genevieve Selser, who repulses him. He leaves and never answers the phone again.

• The Big Question• How picky would you be if you

were the only person left alive?

The Long Years

• Captain Wilder returns to Mars and finds Hathaway who lives there with his family, who seem very young. He later learns that they are robots who have replaced Hathaway’s real family who died. Hathaway has a heart attack and dies.

• The Big Question• Was Hathaway really happy with his android

family?

There Will Come Soft Rains

• In California, an automated house does its duties until it ultimately is destroyed.

• The Big Question• How realistic were

Bradbury’s predictions of automation? What is the role of nature in this story?

The Million Year Picnic

• A family arrives on Mars in 2028 and decide to live in a Martian town, rather than build a replica of an earth town. They destroy vestiges of their old lives and planet.

• The Big Question• Bradbury thinks this is the

proper way to be a pioneer. Do you agree?