Deborah
ENGL 3850-02N
Sci-Fi Lit
Dr. Coats
24 April, 1997
Martian Time Slip
Philip K. Dick's Martian Time Slip explores a darker realm rarely discussed on Mars: Mental illness. In The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury places an entire expedition in an insane asylum, but he does this for the comedic irony, not to look critically at it. On a different planet, mental illness is a different problem. Manfred has a potential to be exploited by Terrans who might have just left him locked up under different circumstances back on Earth.
This book may be a difficult read for those who prefer to live in ignorance of schizophrenia. While I admit that this is not an accurate portrayal of the disease, it is definitely a thorough exploration of Dick's interpretation. Who is to say that schizophrenics may have different behaviors on a different planet? My personal experience with perceptions of reality allowed me to read this book with an alternate viewpoint. Once again, the thought of "Be kind to your local maniac- She may not be crazy after all" comes blazing through. I liked it.
The Martians in this book are an odd mixture of the natives of Herbert's Arrakis and any aboriginal Terran tribes. They are quite comfortable adding in science to their religion and adapting their religion to suit any new concepts that come into their lives. A shuffling resignation to their status and role in life peppers any conversation a Terran has with them. Manfred falls in with them as easily and comfortably as if he had been born to their tribe:
The desert lay ahead, for them and for him. But none of them had any regrets; it
was impossible for them to turn back anyhow, because they could not live under
the new conditions...He (Manfred) felt very good, better than he could remember
ever having felt before in his life. (256)
The most bittersweet moment in this book came at a point others may consider the most horrifying. Jack Bohlen and his father Leo, are out at a site that is being considered secretly for a UN co-op project. Manfred is there as well, and he sees the site as it will be, not as it is. He draws the decaying slum as he sees it and proceeds to live in his mind that particular time. He is old and literally falling apart. Piece by piece his body wears out in this nightmarish time-slip. He is brought back to our time by the abrasive Arnie Kott. Arnie wants to know why Manfred does not play like the other children. Manfred is incapable of answering Arnie in a manner that Arnie will understand. "I don't see why this kid never laughs, (146)" Arnie growls. If you saw what he lives, would you, Arnie?