The Illustrated Man

by Ray Bradbury

(you will need a ½ sheet of paper)

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Pretest – What?

1. In what genre did Ray Bradbury usually write?2. What is a frame story?3. What is existentialism?

Ray Bradbury

A. Born in 1920• Began writing when he was 12B. First major works published after 1949• Wrote many short stories

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Better-known works

• Fahrenheit 451• Martian Chronicles• Illustrated Man• Dandelion Wine• Something Wicked This Way Comes

C. Main genre1. Short stories – some novels2. Science fiction3. Science fantacist{some argue the “science” in his works is not accurate enough}

4. Psychological5. Sociological

D. Common themes1. Alienation and fear2. Inevitability of human nature3. Abuse of technology4. Loss of faith5. Satisfaction of revenge6. Threat of war

7. Civil rights for African Americans8. The Cold War9. Censorship10. Totalitarianism11. Acceptance of death12. Dangerous nature of the creative imagination

The bookThe Illustrated Man

A. A collection of short storiesB. A frame story

So, what is a frame story?

1. A “framing device” pulls the stories together into one unit.

The Canterbury Tales

• A group of pilgrims traveling to a religious site• Tell stories – 2 stories each• Competition for “best story”

So, according to the prologue of this story you read for today, what is the “frame” for The Illustrated Man?

The Illustrated Man

2. A tattooed carnival performer3. Tattoos “come to life”4. “Tell” the stories – sort of a

video format5. Occasional reaction from the

observer and transitions

6. Each tattoo tells a separate story

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III. Existentialism

A very brief overview

A. What is existentialism?1. A philosophy2. Widely used by artists of all kinds3. Started after WWII, mainly as a

reaction to that war

4. Jean Paul Sartre5. Search for freedom – personal freedom6. Each person controls her own life

a. Existence based on what you make of it

7. With these freedoms, you can do anything you wish, but with caveats

a. Remove all alibisb. Remove all excusesc. No one to “blame” but yourselfd. No familial tiese. No religious ties

B. Seemingly bleak outlook1. Valueless universe

C. Partially a reaction to what Europeans witnessed during war

1. Questioned how there could be a God (how could God let that happen?)

D. Existence of man1. Emphasis of existence over essence2. Inadequacy of human reason to explain enigma of the universe

3. Humans exist at the same level as every other living creature – we merely

exist on Earth, then go away

E. In one extreme branch of this philosophy, nothing exists outside your very own,

single-moment existence1. People in the next classroom do not exist – you cannot prove they do

• Historicize!F. Bradbury’s first major works came after WWIIG. While Bradbury is not considered an existentialist, his

works have many elements of this movement

• Bradbury’s stories do not go to that extreme

–We will be looking for and discussing the existential elements in Bradbury’s stories–Remember, he is not considered

an existentialist