By Kaitlyn Meyers
The Martian by Andy Weir is a survival sci-fi novel that will keep you reading out of utter desperation. We follow astronaut Mark Watney, who is stranded on Mars after an accident that makes mankind believe he is dead. He is alone, trying to survive for an exorbitant number of days (called sols on Mars) before he can hitch a ride on the next Mars mission about four years down the road. As you can imagine, it’s not a fun time for Watney.
I love this novel because it’s different. It’s a harrowing yet funny situation that Watney is fully aware of. He uses his humor as a coping mechanism just as much as he uses his science and math knowledge to survive. I will say that some of this science and math knowledge can be dense, but Andy Weir does a great job balancing the story with the knowledge.
As much as this is an entertaining survival story, this is also a great novel to study how characterization done differently can actually be done well.
I say this because characterization is normally done well with character descriptions and internal thoughts. However, because most of this story is in a diary format, neither are present all that much. Character description is stripped away because Watney, alone, meets no one new while on Mars (which is unfortunate, really). Internal thoughts are not recorded raw in a moment-for-moment fashion as done traditionally.
But how is characterization still done well? In The Martian, we see the trails of internal thought through the goals and quips that Watney records. The log is basically his daily diary (hence why I consider this a diary-formatted story). And the characterizations of Watney come through in these logs. For example, in chapter 2, page 13, he records:
Log Entry: Sol 11 I wonder how the Cubs are doing.
That is all he records for a three-day span. It gives a very important glimpse into the kind of person Watney is, and what kind of character Andy Weir wants us to imagine. We might not be getting all the thoughts, but we’re getting what Watney believes is important or relevant to himself for his survival. His humor, therefore, comes through as important.
Character description is also hard to come by in this novel. Even when the story jumps back to Earth with Venkat Kapoor or others, description is still mainly nonexistent. Instead, we see the characterization of various characters through dialogue.
A very minor character, Rich Purnell, is a perfect example of this. In chapter 16, page 199, there’s a conversation between Rich, an astrodynamicist, and Venkat Kapoor, the director of Mars operations, that shows how Rich is different from the other characters. This is done almost entirely with dialogue:
Rich looked at the mess of papers and sighed. “But I had such a cool summary . . .” “A summary for what?” “How to save Watney.” “That’s already in progress,” Venkat said. “It’s a last-ditch effort, but—” “The Taiyang Shen?” Rich snorted. “That won’t work. You can’t make a Mars probe in a month.” “We’re sure as hell going to try,” Venkat said, a note of annoyance in his voice. “Oh, sorry, am I being difficult?” Rich asked. “I’m not good with people. Sometimes I’m difficult. I wish people would just tell me. Anyway, the Taiyang Shen is critical. In fact, my idea won’t work without it. But a Mars probe. Pfft. C’mon.” “All right,” Venkat said. “What’s your idea?” Rich snatched a paper from the desk. “Here it is!” He handed it to Venkat with a childlike smile. Venkat took the summary and skimmed it. The more he read, the wider his eyes got. “Are you sure about this?” “Absolutely!” Rich beamed. “Have you told anyone else?” “Who would I tell?” “I don’t know,” Venkat said. “Friends?” “I don’t have any of those.” “Okay, keep it under your hat.” “I don’t wear a hat.” “It’s just an expression.” “Really?” Rich said. “It’s a stupid expression.” “Rich, you’re being difficult.” “Ah. Thanks.”
After this exchange, we never see Rich Purnell again, but this passage makes him a memorable side character. We learn he is difficult, then we soon see that difficulty in action, all well placed and well written. We also see that Rich can be childlike and excitable. This makes his character more round and more believable. But, because he is such a minor character, the characterizations of Rich are not overpowering with lines of description of what he looks like, what he wants, et cetera, et cetera.
Internal thoughts are vital to making any story feel authentic. In The Martian, even if these are seemingly nonexistent, they are actually there in the form of recorded information deemed important by Watney. Description of characters is also important but scarce here. Instead of lines of description, it is shown mainly through dialogue. This is not done in a soliloquy of semi-important information, but instead through sneaking in characterizations for each character.
Check out our video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWx2tpuXsro] on the Manuscript Dr YouTube channel to see more on how traditional characterization is vital to a story. Read The Martian for a great study of a diary-formatted story as well as a funny and witty narrator that will keep you reading even when it feels hopeless.
Find The Martian on Amazon [https://smile.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/0553418025/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1615219410&sr=8-3] or add it to your Goodreads [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18007564-the-martian?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=a6VCx0UuGw&rank=1