Amazon; The silence of the crowd feels “like a pressure of a distant storm.” Many people watch. Willie, Hattie’s husband, pulls up in his car and gruffly asks the Browns if they’re going to see the white man “like a bunch of fools.” He adds that he is on his way home to get his guns, and that they should consider doing the same. Willie underscores the ways in which black people on Earth were made to feel unwelcome and alienated in society, a fact that catalyzed their desire to move to Mars. Hattie Johnson’s children are buzzing with anticipation over the news: for the first time in twenty years, a white man is coming to Mars. Story 3 Summary: “The Other Foot” On Mars, Hattie Johnson and her three sons hear that a rocket is coming. On Mars, the Martians finally were able to find peace and a sense of communal belonging, which the white man’s arrival may threaten. The mayor suggests that cruelty is never warranted, but is powerless against Willie—further emphasizing the latter’s influence in the community. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Mars has been colonized solely by black people. His wife asks if something is wrong and he responds that something big has happened, emptying the road. The Other Foot Setting. Earlier, the crowd was compared to a single body with thousands of arms, and now it is like a “single string” with many “marionette heads.” The puppeteer is Willie, who can manipulate the crowd however he wishes. A young boy shouts that the rocket ship is approaching, and “like marionette heads on a single string, the heads of the crowd turn upward.” As the rocket swoops down to Mars, the crowd gasps. War and political strife is the last major motif of the book, designed by Bradbury to reflect the concerns of that era. It is piloted by a white man. These details make clear that Hattie is attempting to shield her children from the brutality of the racism that their mother escaped. Get A Copy. He adds that there are no surviving houses or people in Greenwater. The fact that men are swept up in Willie’s call for a violent, authoritative stand while the women remain helplessly on the sidelines (just like Hattie did earlier) reflects the gendered expectations of masculinity and femininity of Bradbury’s era. Willie’s reaction to hearing the name Greenwater, Alabama suggests that Greenwater was his hometown on Earth. When they learn that a rocket is coming from Earth with white travellers, they institute a Jim Crow system of racial segregation in retaliation for how the whites once treated them. Since Willie’s vengefulness is largely fueled by what happened to his parents, Hattie attempts to show Willie that in many ways, justice has already been served for wicked, racist men. The rocket’s door slides open, and an old, tired-looking man steps out. They embark on a short-lived vendetta campaign in preparation, preparing to treat the white men like they themselves were treated under the Jim Crow laws. (including. The Other Foot. Ray Bradbury wrote the story before the civil rights movement began in the mid-1950s. The Martians hear rumors and realize that a rocket, from Earth, will soon land on Mars. Willie’s fingers tightening on the rope show that his aggression is flaring up. Willie is also able to find common ground with the Earth people and empathize with their experience of loneliness and homelessness in the wake of World War III. Here, the old man finally reveals the purpose of his visit to Mars: to ask the Martians for help by letting the Earth people borrow their rockets and come live on Mars. Several people race off to begin their task. A dense crowd gathers at the landing port, and Willie passes out guns. The Other Foot (1987) Selected from Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (1991) The Toynbee Convector (1992) (including. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Historic cities like Paris and London have been reduced to smithereens. Climbing into the empty trolley. This passage also reveals Willie’s influence in the community at large. Our, “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. On a roll, Willie shouts that new laws need to be passed banning intermarriages. Willie Johnson - Martian settler seeking revenge on his parents' death by lynching. Learn more about Bradbury’s life and career. Adapting the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus’s famous statement that one cannot step into the same river twice, one could say that no person ever steps twice into the same self. Hattie Johnson remembers and tells the children how black people left Earth for Mars years ago, how Earth had a terrible war, and how the people on Earth have only recently rebuilt rockets. Willie tells her that in the past twenty years, the Earth people have endured the same feelings of pain, loneliness, and homelessness that the Martians experienced on Earth, meaning that now everyone is “on the same level.” When Hattie and Willie get home, Hattie lets the children out of the house, and they excitedly ask their father if he saw the white man. Surprisingly, the Martians greet the old man with tension and silence rather than immediate chaos and violence. Hattie’s young boys have no concept of racial tension and appear utterly aware of the long, grim history of racism on Earth. Meanwhile, Hattie reveals a way in which racism and prejudice can be dismantled. The impending arrival of a white man — the first white man to visit Mars since the black people colonized the planet — dredges up the Martians’ deep-rooted feelings of bitterness towards a world that denied their humanity. Hattie asks if a certain Dr. Phillips and Mr. Burton are still alive, and the old man replies that they both died in the war and both of their houses burned down. The story takes place on Mars, inhabited solely by black people (Martians). Telling her children to stay at the house, Hattie runs down the road and sees her neighbors, the Browns, piled into their family car. This further reflects his humility and belief that Earth people are deserving of the same treatment they subjected the Martians to. Willie quickly becomes the unofficial leader of the crowd, showing how one individual has the power to influence the masses. There is nothing “left to hate,” except for an “alien people” who will be forced to sit in the back of streetcars and theaters. Ray Bradbury Contents Prologue: The Illustrated Man The Veldt Kaleidoscope The Other Foot The Highway The Man The Long Rain The Rocket Man The Fire Balloons The Last Night of the World The Exiles No Particular Night or Morning The Fox and the Forest The Visitor The Concrete Mixer The white man doesn’t make excuses or justifications for the Earth people’s behavior. Willie’s idea for Jim Crow laws that target white people reflect the terrible and inhumane treatment black people were subjected to on Earth. As he waits, he realizes no car has stopped in the past hour, which is unusual as he’s always asked to have his picture taken by tourists driving down the road. And no white men’ve come up here in all that time. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Boldly stepping forward, she calls for the old man’s attention, asking if he knows “Knockwood Hill in Greenwater, Alabama?” When the old man produces a map, Hattie asks about the big oak tree on the top of the hill. The Other Foot Summary. The rocket is due to land later that day, and although her young boys are excited, Hattie has a feeling that the white man’s visit will stir up trouble. By tying the rope into a noose, Willie gestures to the United States’ history of racism and cruelty toward black people. Mr. Brown says they’re on the way to see the white man. Hattie notices that his face looks twisted with bitterness and hatred. Eventually, the Martians “just up and walked away and came to Mars,” but the white people stayed on Earth and entered into a terrible atomic war with one another. Elizabeth Brown - Neighbor of the Johnsons. Everybody's thought on this day, thinking it'd never be.Thinking,What kind of day would it be if the white man ever came up here to Mars? Hattie Johnson’s children are buzzing with anticipation over the news: for the first time in twenty years, a white man is coming to Mars. The story begins with an element of confusion, as it’s unclear who “the dark people are” and what they’re looking for in the sky. This is the first indication that certain aspects of racism and prejudice were destroyed in the war. When Willie says that saw the white man clearly, he means that he was finally able to empathize and find common ground with a people he had hated for so long. Unfazed, Willie responds, “This is the other shoe, Mayor, and the other foot.” Willie yells to the crowd that they will elect a new mayor. By describing the crowd as “one dark body,” Bradbury suggests it is no longer made up of individual people with independent thoughts; rather, the crowd has adopted a mob mentality and bends to Willie’s will. He begins painting the seats, and the conductor quickly objects. Find a summary of this and each chapter of The Illustrated Man! The emptiness of revenge (The Other Foot) It wasn’t until recently that the Earth people scrapped together enough metal to build a single rocket to reach Mars. Just as the white man used the word “fools” to refer to himself and his fellow Earth people, Willie also calls himself and his community “fools.” In this way, Willie takes responsibility for emboldening the crowd towards vengeance. Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Other Foot” takes place on Mars, twenty years after all black people have fled the racism and cruelty of Earth to colonize the Red Planet. He refuses to perpetuate a system based on prejudice. Clutching a noose in his hands, Willie asks the crowd if they’re ready. The children have never seen a white man before; Hattie herself was only a young girl when she lived on Earth in 1965. Willie suggests that other Martians have been too quick to let go of their painful memories of racism and bitterness toward white people. The seat reads, “For Whites: Rear Section.” Willie asks for volunteers in the growing crowd to paint every streetcar in the city. The old man says that the hill and the tree are both gone. However, when Willie steps back to reveal his handiwork, the conductor is pleased. People look to Willie for cues about how to react to the white man’s speech, again underscoring Willie’s influence over the crowd and the way that mob mentality impairs independent thought. The detail about the shortage of rockets on Earth further reveals the extent of the war and destruction it caused. When a trolley car pulls up, Willie climbs up into it, lugging a gallon of paint. On the way home, Hattie muses that everyone will finally have a fresh start. Rubbing his temples with his fingers, Willie answers that he did: “Seems like for the first time today I really seen the white man—I really seen him clear.”, Instant downloads of all 1392 LitChart PDFs He ignores the fact that she’s clearly uncomfortable, which hints at his inability to empathize with other people and put aside his own pride. Calling the Earth people fools, he asks the Martians for permission to use their rockets, which have been sitting unused for twenty years, so that he can bring the Earth people to Mars. Sometimes Bradbury discovered a self in the past, and sometimes, particularly in his science fiction, he discovered a self in the future. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Hattie tentatively asks the Browns if they’re going to lynch the visitor, but the Browns laugh and assure her that they’re going to shake his hand. Ray Bradbury is fascinated with technology's effect on human relationships, especially within families. Three unnamed sons - The Johnson children. Instant downloads of all 1392 LitChart PDFs Lynching was often a public act used to threaten and spread fear among black people, and the noose itself became a symbol of white supremacy groups. He reaffirms that Earth people have been stupid and evil, and adds that they will work for the Martians and endure whatever treatment they see fit. Although most of the story has centered on the tension between white people and black people, it’s clear that white people aren’t the only race left on Earth. The other foot is a touching twisted version of segregation in the late 1980s. LitCharts Teacher Editions. The old man doesn’t introduce himself, saying it doesn’t matter who he is. The Other Foot Summary. Hattie oversimplifies the interplanetary migration from Earth to Mars for her children, telling her boys that all black people “just up and walked away and came to mars”—as if doing so were as easy as moving to another town. Barreling outside, Willie rounds up the children and tells them that he’s locking them up—he doesn’t want them to see or even talk about the white man. Many people watch Willie carefully to see how he will react. Willie is immediately established as being domineering and abrasive. Summary Hernando waits for the rain to stop so he can resume plowing the fields. Suddenly, the rocket’s large door slides open, and a tired-looking. Her kids pester her to tell them what white people are like and why they don’t live on Mars. "The Other Foot" The inhabitants of Mars, all of whom are African-American, receive intelligence that white men will be arriving at their civilization. Upon seeing Willie drop his noose, the other Martians swiftly unload their guns and race through town, tearing down all of the freshly painted signs and newly installed ropes. Hattie is hesitant to talk to her boys about race but seems to have no issue talking to them about atomic war and death, suggesting that she’s not trying to protect them from all pain but rather from the specific evil of racism. Equality must be present to maintain balance, peace, and structure in society, and Bradbury demonstrates this in his story set on Mars in 1985. The white man is unaware of the Martians’ plan to establish reverse Jim Crow laws, and yet he seems to suggest the very same thing. She accuses her husband of provoking people in the community, and Willie proudly reveals that he stopped at every house earlier that day and told everyone to bring guns and ropes. His comment about the Earth people “blow[ing] themselves up” further reflects how anger has made him unfeeling and inhumane. However, when Ettil reaches Earth, Bradbury turns this science fiction trope on its head while simultaneously critiquing American society. Hattie asks her husband to think about what he’s doing, but he snaps that all he’s done for the past twenty years is think about white people and the cruelty and racism the Martians endured on Earth. Study Resources ... No one is left to enjoy the revenge, which suggests that revenge is an empty goal. Mars has been colonized solely by black people. Teachers and parents! • Short Summary (Synopsis) • Themes • Mood • Ray Bradbury - Biography • Literary/Historical Information . It becomes clearer that this world is comprised of black people, but that its settlers are young enough to have once lived among mixed races. The Illustrated Man was nominated for the International Fantasy Award in 1952, and its stories have been adapted many times to such media as movies (The Illustrated Man, 1969), TV (The Ray Bradbury Theater, 1985-86, 1988-92), radio (X Minus One, 1955-57), and even rock opera (The Bradbury Tattoos, 2018). 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