THE MARTIAN

Space and place

P.s.- Nickname for the movie-Potato with a rover saves the man
Table
of Spaciousness and Crowding
contents Role of Tools and
01

Machinery 02

Space and Place 03

Schematic diagrams 04
Spaciousness and Crowding
Spaciousness is associated with terms FREEDOM and MOVEMENT. The
protagonist experiences the spaciousness physically to a great extent. The planet
Mars is an open space in literal sense. However, the planet lacked the vital
sources for life –water, oxygen, stability of pressure- the MOTHER NATURE-
which questions the whole idea of freedom and movement of the protagonist. But
the protagonist got equipped with all the vital sources inside the space shuttle/
his space suit.
Outside (space) Inside (Place)
 So, the space outside the shuttle and inside the shuttle can
be differentiated at some level in terms of experience of
spaciousness. The outside, although entirely open, was a

contrary the inside was the
constricted space for him, on the
space where the protagonist experienced maximum
spaciousness in each aspect- having all the vital sources for
survival.
Planet with no people.
Crowding is the awareness of being observed.
The protagonist did'nt face crowding in this
aspect. The place/hab he habitated was "his".

There was an order of things, thoughts according

to his unique perspective without getting conscious
of being judged (which happens when different
opinions are formulated in a space on a common
aspect- that is possible in presence of atleast one
human) .The gesture of the protagonist talking to
himself on the camera and recording himself is
significant.
 Here he is watching his own reflection,
also helping himself with clearance of
thoughts. People are social beings, they
need both spaciousness and crowding,
space and place, people need people.
.

But in order to go with the idea of staying

alone the gesture of talking to yourself and
recording is an act of being social somehow.
So many people record themselves, alone in
the room, talking for hours facing
themselves on camera nowadays- this act of
doing is not arbitrary simply, there is more to
it, a sense of being there for yourslef.
"I colonize Mars"
An absence of people - played a
significant role in avoiding “crowding”-
there was
no space for the protagonist of getting

judged.
It was in his power to order things from
his unique perspective.
There was this scene
where – the protagonist
says “I grow crops here, I
colonize mars”
 The
Role of Tools pathfinder he
and Machinery is able to
affecting the experience of spaciousness locate
through
computers
The protagonist has
had all the tools
from basic to
advanced , from a
scissor to computer
localising areas
that are beyond
protagonist's
physical reach
 The presence of tools and machinery
inside has had a great impact on the
experience of space by the protagonist.
It added an aspect of speed (faster
pace of solving the problems he was
facing) along with freedom and
movement in the experience.

The way through computers, the protagonist could find the location of craters and
localize pathfinder( an already existing machine on Mars that allowed communication
with the NASA team, which was apparently completely lost) , shows a significant role how
the presence of tools and machinery in the rover(place) decides the experience for the
protagonist. Things beyond his physical reach and mental horizon now formed part of his
space through computers
 Through the tools along with his past
experience (Experience in the field of
astronomy along with botany), he is able
to bring source of life i.e. was able to
plant food/potatoes-inside the
rover(inside) already faciliated with
stable atmosphere for a human being.

If there would not have been any

existence of machinery in space-
that is planet Mars- there would
have been no exi-istence ,therefore
no experience of human.
 Potato
The way the protagonist looks at
a new seedling on the earth after
coming from mars has completely
changed. This seedling reminds him of
his place- a place he might never
forget or experience it the same way
again-the rover on Planet Mars.

It was the first seedling

(potato)that grew in the hab (area
he created inside rover to grow
food) in a span of 54 days which
made him have hope that he could
survive. It was this potato that
kept him alive
 Place
Rover

"To whom it may concern, take care

of this rover. She saved my life"
 Act of leaving behind a note in the rover.
The protagonist on the day of leaving his rover, cleans his beard and
refers to the rover as a "she" while writing the note. He marked his sign over wall on which he
was counting days .

Even though the protagonist is conscious of the almost zero probability of that note getting
read by someone, he writes it, he adds an aspect of meaning to his place, his rover by refering it as
a "she" (-pronoun for a human-an important being which every human itself needs.) There was no
one but the rover, his place itself which saved his life literally.
When the protagonist finally leaves from the planet Mars he is overwhelmed- Being alone on a land with no
atmosphere for survival with no human-, facing storms and accidents, eating boiled potatoes, watching the
whole place where he grew potatoes for future getting completely destroyed, thinking intellectually all
the time (as a minute mistake could increase the possibility of him being dead),

getting rashes on body, trying to communicate with the NASA team, undergoing mental breakdowns, making
sure he uses his existing resources in such a way that he has enough resources for future, looking at the
same faraway vast horizons on Mars and his own face, hearing storms or his crew member's left out playlist
of music or his own voice, having fear of being dead or nobody contacting him - for continuous 461 days - was
no easy feat.
 "If I die i need you
to check in with my
parents"

Memory
 The protagonist ran out of hope for his possibility of
survival as the hab where he grew food for himself for
future (his horizon future) was destroyed completely.
At this moment he remembers his parents- human beings
close to his heart.
We get an idea of "importance of human" for a human
over anything else.
The moment when the
protagonist finally gets into
contact (through
pathfinder) with NASA team
on Earth.

This "communication" played

an important role- Just to
know that someone is there
for him gives him courage to
keep trying each day.
Just a "presence" of human
plays an important role.
 Socio-Political Context
Situation : The astronaut aka Mark Watney left behind on Planet Mars, alone and dead(apparantly)
is actually ALIVE.

The whole NASA team along with other people put up all their resources and time to rescue the
protaganist back from Mars .
But it ( the idea of saving the protagonist while keeping in mind that he was still alive) was not an
"immediate" decision.

Proposing in front of whole world that the NASA team left behind an astronaut was probelematic(
it would be a state of shame globally for the whole NASA organisation) .
What was more important- the life of a human or the respect in front of the world? (Political
context)

Later, as the decision is made to save the protagonist shows an anthromophoric aspect-i.e. regarding
humankind as central over anything else.(social context)
 JOURNEY OF SURVIVAL
ON MARS
Future
REACHING BACK
orizon
H HOME ALIVE

Futur
Left
e THE MAIN AIM OF HIS LIFE
THE LIMITLESS DURING THAT TIME WAS:
SPACE
How to survive on mars
keeping in mind the
The protagonist Right limitation of resources
Past and how to get back to
has an experience in
Earth-his home- which
fields of astronomy determined his horizon
and botany with Past
future.
him from the past
THE LIMITLESS SPACE
 Our cute
The crew mate trying to get in LIMITLESS SPACE
protagonist
contact with protagonist
 US AFTER COMPLETING THE ASSIGNMENT:

THANK YOU PRESENTATION BY:

Rijul Sharma (21080062)

Kuhu Bora (21080054)
Divyam Jain (21080051)