Mark Watney Quotes

At this point, Mark doesn't think anyone will even realize that he survived, much less rescue him. This creates a sense of isolation that's both figurative and literal: he's afraid of not only being abandoned but forgotten. Luckily, this pessimistic perspective is quickly squashed by his seemingly limitless supply of optimism.

Whenever Mark goes out on the surface, he gets a brutal reminder of how alone he truly is. The Hab provides a certain degree of comfort—although he still can't communicate with Earth, the mere presence of this man-made building reminds him that there's a home waiting for him. Unsurprisingly, the barren landscape of Mars has the opposite effect.

By now, this whole isolation thing is getting to Mark's head. Although he's dealing with life-or-death situations on a constant basis, his biggest concern is hanging out with people. Anyone can get used to living in a dangerous environment, but there isn't a human alive who can get used to being alone.

Getting in contact in NASA is a big deal—the only thing bigger would be if Mark stumbled across a fully-fueled, state-of-the-art Martian spaceship. His situation is still as terrifying as ever—and his odds for survival are still catastrophically low—but now he has reason to hope. Hope can be a powerful thing.

How quickly things change! We're sure that Mark wouldn't go back to radio silence if you paid him, but we can understand why he reacts like this—he simply misses his independence.

With the Hab disassembled, Mark feels the full weight of his isolation. Although he knows that he's beginning the final leg of his journey (whether he survives or not), he still can't help but feel unsettled. To be honest, we'd suggest throwing some disco on the stereo and blaring it to high heavens. Rovers have good sound systems, right?

The worst part about this ordeal is that no one even realizes that Mark is alive. If they did, he might be a bit more optimistic about his chances. Instead, he sees no way out and loses hope immediately. Fortunately, this fear-induced funk doesn't last long.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. This passage shows how well Mark is able to handle his fear: instead of allowing it to drive his actions, he acknowledges it and moves forward. He could've easily just curled up in a ball and binge-ate his ration packs, but Mark Watney isn't going down without a fight.

Well, Mark summed it up better than we ever could. Frankly, he usually screws thing up when he lets his fear take control and prevent him from making wise decisions. At least the guy's aware of it now.

What a difference a few months make. Do you remember how frightened Mark was on Day 1 of this ordeal? Look at him now! This passage shows us that courage isn't about not feeling fear—it's about learning to manage it.

Although Mark has gotten used to living in fear, he hasn't exactly transformed into Braveheart. The fact of the matter is that something could go disastrously wrong in an instant, and Mark needs to be vigilant to prevent that from happening. While good, that sort of attention is going to drive you crazy at some point.

It's one thing to die, but it's whole different thing to lead five of your closest friends to their death. Mark has long-since made peace with his own possible death: in fact, he never really expected to make it this far. Bringing in other people only raises the stakes higher.

At this point, fear is pretty much a Pavlovian Response for Mark. The guy has experienced so much crazy stuff since getting stuck on Mars that even the smallest thing gets transformed into a crazy disaster in his mind. He can't let his fear trip him up, however—he needs to keep his eyes on the prize.

Mark's fears are amplified by the fact that he's completely and utterly alone. As every horror movie ever has shown us, isolation has a way of stoking the fires of fear. Of course, Mark has a pretty low chance of running into a deranged serial killer on Mars, so maybe it's a net positive.

Given that Mark is about to be launched into space with only a strip of Hab canvas separating him from the lifeless void, we'd say he has good reason to be afraid. The bright side is that this will be the last time he has to do something like this—hopefully.

We don't know if we'd be quite as graceful if we were in Mark's situation—frankly, we'd be cursing those rapscallions to high heaven. Still, you've got to admire the guy. Instead of getting bitter, Mark realizes that he sacrificed himself so his friends could live.

Though he once hated them, Mark acts a lot like those hippies during his time on Mars. He composts—his own poop. He recycles—his own urine. He even uses solar energy. Going green has never felt so good!

Sometimes, the best scientific solution to a given problem is to simply use what Mother Nature gave us. After all, our bodies are finely-tuned pieces of technology that took hundreds of thousands of R&D to perfect. That sure beats the pants of an iPhone.

You know you're a science nerd when you can have fun picking up rocks. After having more brushes with death than he can count, Mark takes comfort in something as simple and as logical as geology. It must be a relief to simply be a scientist again.

Jeez, Mark should just get a sponsorship deal already. We can already see the pitch: If duct tape is good enough for Mark Watney, then you can be darn tootin' it's good enough for you! Jokes aside, this passage shows that the most useful technology isn't always the flashiest.