The Martian Chronicles PR4

In this report, I would like to discuss a story from «The Martian Chronicles» by Ray Bradbury that captured my attention, titled «Night Meeting.» The story follows Tomás Gomez, a human colonist on Mars, who encounters a Martian named Muhe Ca on his way to a village.

I’ve been fascinated by the theme of time subjectivity since I watched «Interstellar» a few years ago. My brain is on the verge of breaking every time I try to explain to myself how time can flow differently in various parts of our galaxy. It’s just beyond my comprehension. The story touches upon this topic.

Ray Bradbury’s «Night Meeting” takes place on Mars, where the thin atmosphere allows the ghosts of past and future generations to momentarily interact with the present. On his way to a village Tomás encounters a Martian, and in a few minutes both realize that they are ghosts. Both of them can see through each other, as if their bodies were maid of air. Both characters find themselves in a place that is neither past nor future, but an intermingling. This experience highlights the idea that time is not an absolute construct but can be subjective, the idea based on one’s perspective and circumstance. On the way Tomás was also wondering what time actually was about:

There was a smell of Time in the air tonight. He smiled and turned the fancy in his mind. There was a thought. What did Time smell like? Like dust and clocks and people. And if you wondered what Time sounded like it sounded like water running in a dark cave and voices crying and dirt dropping down upon hollow box lids, and rain. And, going further, what did Time look like? Time looked like snow dropping silently into a black room or it looked like a silent film in an ancient theater, one hundred billion faces falling like those New Year balloons, down and down into nothing. That was how Time smelled and looked and sounded. And tonight – Tomás shoved a hand into the wind outside the truck – tonight you could almost touch Time.

Time is even personified in the story. I suggest it happens because the author perceives time as some kind of power (maybe even devine) that we can never fully comprehend. The story suggests that time is relative and the boundaries between past, present, and future may not always be as fixed or rigid as we perceive them. It encourages readers to consider the potential for coexistence between different moments and perspectives in time.

I’m also going to share a few words from the story:

• figment /ˈfɪɡm(ə)nt/ – a thing that someone believes to be real but that exists only in their imagination. It really was Ross and not a figment of her overheated imagination
• dwindle /ˈdwɪndl/ diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength. Her hopes of success in the race dwindled last night as the weather became worse.
• sparse – small in numbers or amount, often spread over a large area: a sparse population/audience; sparse vegetation/woodland; a sparse beard