The Illustrated ManBy: Ray Bradbury

Author Highlights

•Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois on August 22, 1920

•Bradbury's reputation as a leading science fiction writer occurred in 1950 with The Martian Chronicles.

•The book describes man's attempt to colonize Mars

Dystopian Writer

•genres of literature that explore social and political structures

•Utopian fiction is the creation of an ideal world

•Dystopian fiction is the opposite: creation of a nightmare world

Dystopian writing in The Illustrated Man•Bradbury is a dystopian writer•He points out the troubles with

technology•Did you ever imagine that technology

could be seen as a negative aspect of society?

•How does technology assist society?•In what ways can technology be harmful?

Dystopian writing in The Illustrated Man•Examines the world from a distance•Negative point of view•Very cautious upon man’s ability to rely

on modern conveniences

Historical Context

•1950s- What’s happening in the world?•Space Race

▫United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a heated competition

▫1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik.

▫USA and Soviet Union both wanted to prove scientific superiority and to show their military strength.

Cold War

•The Cold War began after World War Two.•The Space Race grew out of the Cold War •Democratic vs. Communist society•The main enemies were the United States

and the Soviet Union.

Science in Schools

•Push for Science and Math•Science fairs evolved•Programs and course of studies centered

around math and science•Influx of Technology

Facts about this decade(1950)

Population: 151,684,000 (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census)*Unemployed:  3,288,000Life expectancy:   Women 71.1,  men  65.6Car Sales:  6,665,800Average Salary:  $2,992Labor Force male/female: 5/2Cost of a loaf of bread:  $0.14Bomb shelter plans, like the government pamphlet You Can Survive, become widely available

Decade at a Glance

•1951 - Transcontinental television begins with a speech by Pres. Truman

•1954 - Racial segregation is ruled unconstitutional in public schools by the U.S. Supreme Court.  1959 - Alaska and Hawaii become the forty-ninth and fiftieth states. 

Welcome Television!

•During the 1950s, television became the dominant mass media

•In the early fifties, the number of hours young people watched TV steadily increased

•What was portrayed on television became  accepted as normal

•Less reliance on print and radio news

TV continued

•1954, black and white broadcasts became color broadcasts

•Families no longer listened to radio and discussed world events

•Entertained not Engaged

Developments from TV Era

•TV Dinners•TV Guides•TV Trays

▫New way of life

Shows of the time

Party Line

•Party line (also multiparty line or Shared Service Line) is an arrangement in which two or more customers are connected directly to the same local loop.

•Prior to World War II in the United States, party lines were the primary way residential subscribers acquired local phone service

Life in a 360 Degree View

•The Velt- First story in The Illustrated Man

•Life is viewed in a 360* theater.•Who has been to Disney?

The Plot of the Short Stories

•A young man meets an Illustrated Man, whose tattoos are filled with the power to tell stories and see the future.

•Despite the Illustrated Man's warnings, he looks at the tattoos, which tells him eighteen stories

•1st story The Velt

Science Fiction

•Not considered legitimate literature at the time Ray Bradbury first started publishing his books

•A setting in the future, in alternative timelines, or in a historical past that contradicts known facts of history

•Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternate possibilities

Final Thoughts/Questions?