Alexis: Intertexual Codes in The Martian

One of the intertexual codes that could be found in The Martian by Andy Weir is the proairetic code. This code is basically attempting to predict what is going to happen in the story based on what had already happened. It is also about seeing how all the events of the story come together as a whole in the end.

Being that I have not finished The Martian, I cannot see how all the events come together in the end because, well, I haven’t gotten to the end yet. But based on what I have already read, I can make a general prediction that the main character, Mark, will survive by the end of the story and be rescued. From what I have read, there have been times when he finds ways of surviving, like when he figures out how to grow potatoes and make water while being stranded on Mars. Not only that, but there are a couple of major events that happen that bring me to that prediction.

The first thing to notice is the fact that the perspectives shift part way through the story from Mark to the team at NASA. If Mark did not have a chance at living, then I feel like that wouldn’t be happening in the story. If the author didn’t want the reader to feel like there was a chance forMark to survive or be rescued, there wouldn’t be a shift in the perspectives. If the author had only kept Mark’s point of view throughout the entire story, then there would be a tone of hopelessness and the outlook for his survival wouldn’t be disheartening.

During the story, the fact that NASA has figured out that Mark is alive through the satellites that take pictures of Mars gives the reader the sense that there is hope in Mark’s survival. Teddy, someone who is part of NASA, says, ‘“I can’t promise we’ll succeed in rescuing him, but I can promise this: The entire focus of NASA will be to bring Mark Watney home. This will be our overriding and singular obsession until he is either back on Earth or confirmed dead on Mars”’ (Weirs 62). Another major thing that happens that leads me to believe that Mark has a chance at survival is when the team at NASA is talking about trying to send Mark food and supplies that would have been used for Ares 4. Venkat, another member of NASA says, ‘“He’ll start starving in a year. We have to send him supplies. Simple as that”’ (86).

While the team at NASA talk about sending him food and supplies, Mark is looking for a way to communicate with NASA or earth. He goes searching for the Pathfinder that lost communication with NASA in 1997; he says, “…the whole point of this trip is to get a radio. I could be reconnected with mankind before I even die” (100). He is desperate to reconnect with another person and is determined to fix the radio to get a signal back to Earth.

Based on these events that happen in the story, they kind of snowball into what the reader hopes to be the controlling value, which in this case, is the hope that Mark survives at the end of the story.