Disillusionment - Martian Chronicle Essay

Jennifer Liang

November 15, 2016

Class 3

 Word Count:849

Disillusionment        

I, wearing a cat-like headwear, walked hand in hand with my lovely boyfriend in the cheers and laughter. I was brought to an amusement park. Taking roller coaster, he hold my hand tightly and placed our hands in the air with a great deal of excitement. After that, I was protected in his arms when we are in haunted house. How sweet a couple is! “Hey! What is going on?” , my illusion is interrupted by my friend. I awake from my daydream; actually, I am a lonely “single dog” though November 10th—Singles Day—is coming. Only after reading the Martian Chronicle thoughtfully was the relationship between illusion and reality pondered by me. While it may be lovely to live in a world of illusion, it is better to face reality since illusion is fake, but we can try to live a better life in reality.

        Illusion conceals people’s mental scar to bring pleasure. To be more specific, illusion fulfill people’s desire and obsess people to a fantasy, which is related to strong emotions of love and empathy to some extent. In both the Third Expedition and the Martian, humans’ illusion is to have their beloved dead families back. Although Captain Black was suspicious at first, he eventually accepted the illusion when he saw his dead brothers and parents, which suggests that emotions surpass rationality. Admittedly, that people are captivated by the fantasy of illusion brings comfort to the crew who are blinded by the emotion of having their resurrected family back. Besides, “The Martian” shows us how LaFarge and his neighbors are willing to accept the illusion of familiar people than they are to accept the reality of assumed Martians. "We came here to enjoy our old age in peace, not to think of Tom. He's been dead so long now, we should try to forget him and everything on Earth" (183). It ironically shows Anna ‘s duplicity. She just made decision to forget the past, yet she was the one who stands on the resurrection of her son as is called selective memory. That both Captain’s Black crew and Lafarge are dishonest with themselves is corresponding to the idea that people inherently tend to accept beauty rather than pain.        

Although illusion is lovely, when you take the mask of false appearance away, there always is a tragedy. I remember that when Captain Black saw his parents, "He ran up the steps like a child to meet them" (59). The delightful time lasts short; Clinging to these beautiful but visional things got the whole crew killed. Another story that focuses on illusion and reality is “Usher II.” William Stendahl indulged himself in the fantastic works of Earth’s literature. “Even though he acts because he feels (and even, in fact, has been) persecuted, he is far from the hero of the piece”("The Martian Chronicles: Theme Analysis"). Although the murder was shown as an interesting play, the reality was all the human come to the party were killed by their robotic duplicate. Being dishonest with themselves, people immerse themselves into imagination and daydream, wishing the dream to come true. However，in the end we cannot escape reality. Sooner the hype will go away, and there might be an intensively emotional impact.