The Martian

Upon reading the Martian I am reminded of something one might find in a classic adventure novel. Particularly the many stories one might hear of being stranded upon an island. The idea is more similar to a sailor lost out on a Caribbean. The astronaut in this story replaces the sailor and Mars is the island. It's actually quite genius, because the basic structure of the story is amplified in a realistic way. Someone might also think as far back as the classics such as Odysseus being stranded. Really I guess this is what I'm trying to get across is that I do not think that the Martian takes from any specific genre per say more that it takes notes from the classical structure. This can really be seen in multiple ways. Much like many other classical stories the moral dilemma is layered and is shared by multiple people. It's not so much about what one person will do to solve the problem but what many people can do together. For example the story of Odysseus is as much about his wife and son as it is about him. In the Martian the story is as much about Watney's crew and the overall team of the expeditions as it is about him. Of course it focuses heavily on him but his survival is dependent on being saved. No matter how hard he tries his efforts will only get him so far. Another important part of the story that borrows from the classical aspect is that the hero survives through his ability to think. Much like Odysseus who survives through his brains and whits Watney survives because of ingenuity and education.