Getting Home

30 days after Mark left the HAB in order to get to the Ares4 landing site, where a rocket will take him directly towards the rescue ship, Hermes. Mark is driving peacefully when he encounters a sand storm that slows down his progress. Mark manages a way out of the storm, only to flip the rover, and damage it slightly. Everything as just gone south on Mark, but he does not give up, uses all his wit to fix the rover and continue. When he finally makes it to the MAV or the rocket, Mark has to literally, dismantle the MAV so it would be able to make it out of the orbit. When Mark finally takes of in the MAV,  he faints because he is exposed to a substantial amount of G forces. Hermes is too far away to catch Mark, so he makes a hole in his suit so pressure will escape, allowing him to fly like Iron Man. After two years of isolation, Mark finally is reunited with his cremates and he is on his way back to Earth. His rescue has been symbolic to humanity, making them realize that they can accomplish anything when they unite.

Mark about to give up.

“I admit it’s fatally dangerous,” Watney said. “But consider this: I’d get to fly around like Iron Man.” “We’ll keep working on ideas,” Lewis said. “Iron Man, Commander. Iron Man.” (Weir 350).

  

Towards the end of the book we start to realize how Mark’s personality had a great influence in his chances of surviving. Any other person would have easily given up hope. But Mark always tried to stay positive, he always laughed and joked around. In this quote we can see how Mark stays positive and laughs at the situation even though he is in great peril.

“Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out. If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception” (Weir 368).

This ending quote can probably reveal the message and theme of the book. We can tell how solidarity influenced Mark’s rescue. Almost everyone on Earth supported and rooted for Mark Watney. Probably billions of dollars where spent in his rescue. This was a symbol of progress, not only it allowed development in science and technology, but it brought union all over the world. Differences where casted aside, and people allover the world united to rescue this one person. Mark Watney could not have made it home without the support and solidarity of everyone on Earth.

Mark is now safe after two years of loneliness. Mark would not have been able to survive if it weren’t for his optimistic personality and his amazing problem solving ability. Mark could have given up any time, he could have stopped trying but he did not. Mark Watney’s rescue has been symbolic to humanity, making them realize that they can accomplish anything when they unite.

The New Plan

After the failure of the Iris probe, launched by NASA, with the purpose of suppling Mark Watney with food, NASA had pretty much given up hope on rescuing Mark form Mars. But suddenly a new idea rose, the Ares3 members who where on their way back to Earth, could receive supplies while passing by Earth and return and rescue Mark from Mars. Mark would rise out of Mar’s atmosphere using the Ares4 mission rocket, or MAV, that was sent in advance of the mission. The only problem is that it is 3500 kilometers away from Mark’s location. Mark has to travel about 90 days in a rover, so he starts to find ways to fit life essential equipment inside the rover, such as the atmospheric regulator and the oxygenator. While modifying the rover, Mark accidentally damages the computer which he used to communicate with NASA, leaving him on his own again. When Mark finally takes of towards the Ares4 rocket, NASA discovers a huge sand storm coming in the direction of Mark’s route, but they cannot do anything to warn him.

“I guess you could call it a "failure", but I prefer the term "learning experience".” (Weir 210).

Dust Storm

The reason that I think that Mark has been able to survive so long is because his personality always allows him to sees the bright side of situations. I Mark wasn’t as optimistic he might already be dead. This way of thinking has allowed him to beat the odds of surviving, solving each problem at a time. Mark Watney never admitted defeat.

“Me: “This is obviously a clog. How about I take it apart and check the internal tubing?” NASA: (after five hours of deliberation) “No. You’ll fuck it up and die.” So I took it apart.”(Weir 232).

THE MAV

This quote probably reflects another reason why Mark has been able to survive without giving up. Mark is a problem solver, even when he had contact with NASA, he did things with confidence, he never doubted himself. Unlike NASA, Mark was able to see the simplest way out of problems, as we can see in this quote. It is because of Mark’s independence that, he has been able to solve all this technical problems that NASA’s most brilliant minds had a hard time with.

I am very unsure of what is going to happen to Mark. Maybe he might get killed in the 100 mile per hour winds of the sand storm.  Not only that but the sand storm will allow less solar power to reacher the rover, making the trip longer by five times. To sum up everything, Mark Watney has literally all odds against him.

Unfortunate Events

After being stranded for three months in Mars, astronaut Mark Watney finally establishes communication with NASA back on Earth. Watney had to travel for two weeks in the Mars Rover in order to get a damaged rover that lost communication with NASA years ago. Thanks to his mechanical engineering skills, Mark fixes the rover’s radio allowing him to communicate with Earth. Once he is in touch with NASA, Mark is guided and told what to do in order for his supplies to last longer. During one of his EVAS (outside explorations), the airlock, a small room which equalized the outside pressure, cracked open, causing the pressure to be released and the HAB to explode. The inside of the HAB is a mess. The potatoes that Mark had grown died because of the change in pressure. Now Mark would not have enough food in order to survive until more supplies get there, unless NASA sends a probe that same month with the food. For the next month NASA engineers work day and night to design a probe that will supply Mark with food. Finally the probe is launched, but a small defect in a bolt causes the probe to fall apart and not make into space, shattering Mark Watney’s last chances of surviving.

Mark's reaction when
the probe failed.

“Every time the astronaut used the airlock, the strain on AL102 relaxed, then tightened anew. Pulling, stressing, stretching, weakening…”(Weir 154).

   

By reading this quote we can identify some of the author’s tool such as foreshadowing. We can clearly infer that something is about to go wrong in the airlock. By using words such as “weakening” and “stressing,” the author is trying to tell us that the airlock is probably going to break, complicating things for Mark.

“When I got back to the HAB and took of the EVA suit, I sat down in the dirt and cried. Bawled like a little kid for several minutes. I finally settled down to a mild sniffling and then felt a deep calm.” (Weir 115).

"I sat down on
 the dirt and cried."

This quote can show and prove to us just how lonely and desperate Mark Watney was. This is what Mark did after he achieved to communicate with NASA. Just imagine how lonely and depressed you have to be to react this way just because you finally get to talk to someone. I pity Mark for having to endure such hard times alone, with no help or support what so ever.

After reading this, we can pretty much say that Mark Watney has a better chances of being rescued by extraterrestrials than by NASA. But knowing how resourceful and ingenious Mark Watney is, he may have a chance after all. I believe that Mark will do something to survive, whether it involves growing more potatoes or eating off his arm.

Astronaut Mark Watney vs. Mars

Astronaut Mark Watney, was part Ares 3, a mission to explore the surface of the planet Mars. Astronaut Watney is presumed dead after a sand storm hits the mission’s location. Watney is left to survive on a bunker or HAB, with food that will last 120 days, which is not enough time for a rescue party to land on Mars. Mark has to come up with a way to grow food in martian soil. He succeeds on planting potatoes and fertilizing them with waste. To water his plants, Watney mixes hydrazine and oxygen and then burns them together to create humidity which is then transformed into water by a humidifier. Watney 1, Mars 0

During this process Mark finds a leak and realizes that the HAB is filled with hydrazine and it will blow up any time soon. Mark is forced to leave the HAB, which is now a ticking-time-bomb, and hide in one of the Rover’s, which are small car-like machines. Watney 1, Mars 1

The HAB

“So that is the situation. I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Hermes or Earth. Everyone thinks I’m dead. I’m in a HAB designed to last thirty-one days.”

Just by reading this quote we can guess what kind of person Mark Watney is. Even though he’s chances of survival are extremely slim, he does not give up. He is an extremely optimistic person to keep trying to find ways to survive regardless of his situation. I wouldn’t have had the will to try to survive, I would have given up.

“So, I’m here in Rover 2. I can stay for a day or two, tops, before the 

CO2 filters from the rover and my space suit. I have that long to figure out how to deal with this. The HAB is now a bomb” (Weir 35).

I feel very sorry for Mark Watney. Just try to put yourself in his situation, being abandoned in Mars. Just imagine trying as hard as you can to survive, even succeeding in growing plants in Mars, being so close to survival only to loose all hope of survival because of one small mistake. Personally I would have given up any kind of hope.

Knowing Mark Watney, he will not stop trying to find a way to survive. His engineering and botany skills, combined with his resourceful thinking have allowed him to strive and prolong his days of supplies and resources. I think Mark will find a way to solve the problem that is taking place in the HAB. Mark Watney is no quitter. 

Madness

            As soon as Halloran recieves Danny’s plead for help, he gets on the next plane to Denver in order to help him. Danny had dreamed that his Jack was going to kill him and Wendy that day. As soon as Danny wakes up, and goes to the hall, there is a man in a dog costume, bleeding. He threatens Danny and tells him to get away.  When Danny goes back to their room he realizes Jack is missing. Meanwhile, Jack had spent the night at the bar, drinking imaginary alcohol. He is hallucinating again. He is at a 1945 party that took place at the hotel. There is a guy, Lloyd, that tells him that he should kill his family to punish them. When the parry disappears, Jack his very drunk and falls uncountious on the floor. When Wendy finds him, Jack grabs her and threatens her. He then begins to choke her, but she manages to hit him in the head. Wendy locks him in the kitchen pantry. Lloyd comes and tells Jack that he will let him out if he kills his family. Jack agrees and finds drinks in the counter table, alongside with a mallet. (Hallorann is now on his way from Denver to Sidewinder. He rents a snowmobile and heads towards the Overlook.) At the Overlook, Wendy is looking for Jack with a knife in her hand. Jack surprises her and hits her with the mallet in the stomach. Jack chases her up the stairs, but she manages to stab him in the back. Wendy goes inside their room, but Danny is not there. Wendy finds some razors in the bathroom and cuts Jack with those. (Hallorann is now at the hotel trying to get in but the lion hedges are preventing him from doing so.)  Jack goes to face Halloran while Wendy collapses onto the ground.

            (Outside the Hotel, Hallorann is fighting of the hedge lions, he manages to throw them gasoline and lights them up.) As soon as Hallorann gets to the lobby, Jack hits him with his mallet on the face, leaving him unconscious. Now he goes looking for Danny, determined to kill him.

            Danny is now up on the third floor, hiding. Tony is telling him that he must try to help Wendy and escape the treacherous place. When Jack arrives to the third floor, Danny was trapped in a dead end corridor. This is when he tells Jack that he is not being himself that the hotel is taking over him. Jack suddenly becomes himself, and tells Danny to run and that he must remember that he loves him. As Danny ran down the stairs he remembered that his father had not taken care of the boiler, and that at any moment now it would blow up. When Danny gets to the lobby, Hallorann is now up with Wendy, trying to get out of the Hotel. They all jump onto the snowmobile and watch as the Overlook blows up in the horizon.

           

“And now Tony stood directly in front of him, and looking at Tony was like looking into a magic mirror and seeing himself in ten years, the eyes widely
spaced and very dark, the chin firm, the mouth handsomely molded. The hair was light blond like his mother's, and yet the stamp on his features was that of his father, as if Tony — as if the Daniel Anthony Torrance that would someday be — was a halfling caught between father and son, a ghost of both, a fusion.” (572)

This is what Jack had inside himself.

Wow! I didn’t expect that. Is this some kind time travel experience? Did future Danny’s existence depended on this moment? Maybe future Danny had to help five year-old Dannny in order for him to exist. Maybe if “Tony” had not helped him, Danny could have been killed.                                            

"Go on and hit me. But you'll never get what you want from me. The face in front of him changed. It was hard to say how; there was no melting or merging of the features. The body trembled slightly, and then the bloody hands opened like broken claws. The mallet fell from them and thumped to the rug. That was all. But suddenly his daddy was there, looking at him in mortal agony, and a sorrow so great that Danny's heart flamed within his chest. The mouth drew down in a quivering bow. "Doc," Jack Torrance said. "Run away. Quick. And remember how much I love you."  (592)

Incredible! Can you imagine the guts you need to stand in front of a psychopath killer? I envy Danny’s courage and boldness, and not just for standing there but for saying what he said. His words where so powerful, that what ever had taken over Jack left him for a moment. This is a very powerful quote, it shows us the power of words, and how they can make huge differences.

            Reading this novel was one of the best choices that I could have made. It is full of suspense and interesting themes and messages, such as the importance of family and the importance of communication. I would totally recommend this book. It would frighten you and delight you at the same time. It is a true page-turner

The Bad Moon Rising

While Danny was being choked by a “ghost” in room 217, Jack had been taking a nap. But he’d had a nightmare about his father. He was remembering how his father had come drunk home and beat his mother with his walking cane. Her mother had almost died because her skull was fractured. In his dream Jack heard a voice of his father, calling. 

“Kill him. You have to kill him, Jacky, and her, too. Because a real artist must suffer. Because each man kills the thing he loves. Because they'll always conspiring against you, trying to hold you back and drag you down”(335). 

Jack opened his eyes, sweating. The CB radio, was smashed up under his feet. This was their only connection to the outside world. Jack walks up the stairs, worried when he spots Danny sitting in the top of the stairs. He’s paralyzed with fear. There are finger marks around his neck. Jack screams for Wendy. When Wendy sees Danny she jumps to conclusions, and accuses Jack of hurting Danny. Jack is shocked, he tries to explain things to Wendy but she rushes down stairs. Jack follows her down to the lobby where she is talking to Danny. Danny screams, “it was her!” Danny tells his parents that he entered room 217 and that a dead women came out of the tub and started to choke him, but he managed to open the door and run. Jack thinks this is ridiculous, so he decides to take a look for himself. When Jack enters the room everything seems perfectly. When he opens the bathroom curtain, he sees nothing. When he locks the door behind him, he hears foot steps rush towards the door. The door nob starts to jingle, as if someone tried to open the door from inside. Jack runs down to the lobby, frightened. But he says that there is nothing up there in the room and that they should not worry about it.                                                                                                   

That same night Jack and Wendy discuss what had happened earlier that day. Wendy is very worried and she says that they should try to get out of this Hotel as soon as they can. Jack agrees and says that tomorrow he would try to start the snowmobile.                                                                                                                    Jack is now standing in front of the bathtub of room 217. There’s is a dead man on the tub. Its George Hatfield, the kid he’d beaten up at his last job. But suddenly he wasn’t dead anymore, he stood up and started to choke Jack. Suddenly Jack had his father’s cane in his hand. He began to beat George with it. While Jack beat him he realized it was no longer George, it was Danny, and he no longer had a cane, he had a mallet. Jack woke up alarmed, sweating. He had been dreaming again.     

During the afternoon, Jack went down to the storage room to look for the snowmobile. When he found it he realized that it would not start because it had no battery. He looked around for it, and hated himself when he found it. He did not want to leave. The Overlook was supposed to be a bonding experience fro his family and a way to escape his drinking problems since there was no alcohol at the Hotel. Jack pretended he did not see it and walked out of the storage room.                    

The turkey had been delicious. Wendy had cooked it to perfection. It was three days later that Danny went outside to the playground. The snow had covered everything by five feet. Danny noticed a little opening in the snow, as if was a small cave. Danny crawled inside and he saw how deep it was. The snow that supported the roof collapsed, leaving Danny trapped, It was then when it hit him, he was not alone in there was someone…something in there with him. Danny desperately tried to make a opening above him using his foot. When he succeeded and climbed out, he saw a hand inside there. Danny was terrified and ran. But the hedges where in his way, just the way they’d been with Jack. The lions  began to chase him to the front porch. When he was about to step inside, he felt a cut in his left thy. It was then that Jack and Wendy grabbed Danny. Danny began to cry and explained everything to them. Jack was furious. He yelled at Danny, telling him that they where just hedges and that could have not happened. Danny cried the rest of the afternoon when he felt Tony calling. “Daneeeeeee…” (448). Danny begins to dream, he is running from someone in the halls of the hotel. He is being chased by someone with a mallet that is smashing it against the walls. Danny remembers what the cook, Hallorann told him, if he is in danger, he should give him call through his mind. Danny does so, just as he recognizes the roaring drunken voice of his father being him. “Come on you godamm pup, take your medicine!”(451). Danny now falls into darkness, everything disappears. He now only sees two words flashing in red. REDRUM. MURDER.

 

"Now. Now by Christ. I guess you'll take your medicine now. Goddam puppy. Whelp. Come on and take your medicine." The cane had gone up and down on her seven more times before Brett and Mike got hold of him, dragged him away, wrestled the cane out of his hand” (330).

            Now we know from where Jack got his tendency to physically abuse his son Danny. He had broken his arm once, and slapped him twice now. I pity Jack, he had to put up with these horrible beatings that his father gave. Just imagine that your father would hit your mother with a cane until her skull was fractured. Poor Jack, he too got beat when his father came home drunk. Will Jack ever dare to do something similar to Wendy or Danny?

“I had agreed to take her and Danny away from the big bad boogeyman and there were no problems. So you see, I thought the best thing to do would be to…kill her.
” (392)

        What?!? Why would Jack think of something so horrible? Is Jack actually thinking about what his father told him? Is he capable of killing his own family? Maybe Jack is a actually insane. He already has had hallucinations, he has weird dreams in which his father talks to him and he is thinking about murdering his wife. Jack is probably suffering from schizophrenia. Maybe he will kill Wendy or Danny.

                                                                                                                                                Something really sinister is about to happen. Jack is involved in some plot to kill or hurt Danny and Wendy. The Overlook is about to take over Jack and use him as a pupet. “I see the bad moon arising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightnin'. I see those bad times today. Don't go around tonight, Well it's bound to take your life, There's a bad moon on the rise.” (302)