Space Residence
“…no longer was he breathing the dry, cool air of the residential levels, purged of all smells but the faint tang of ozone” — This image appeals to our sense of smell and to contribute to gloomy picture of the Colony. It is preceded by the words depicting leveled residences with no contact with the Outside, creating in such way a very different world. Marvin got used to life there; however, he likes much more the upper levels and Farmland, which are full of especial “smell of life”. This is the only place in the Colony where Marvin can experience new feelings and events.
The Gloomy Outside
"But now it [the surface Outside] was lying all around him, burning beneath the fierce sun that crawled so slowly across the jetblack sky”; “And now on the right was a wrinkled, dusty plain, and on the left, its ramparts and terraces rising mile after mile into the sky, was a wall of mountains that marched into the distance until its peaks sank from sight below the rim of the world” — These words appeal to readers’ visual senses and later they will be contrasting and emphasizing the beauty of the Earth. Yet when the Colony environment is being described, Marvin feels either somewhat bothered or tense as their trip lasts a few hours and the only view includes dark mountains and valleys. So there is a contrast in boy’s feelings, as the former change into admiration, wonder and understanding when he sees the planet.
A New Feeling
“Father was driving with a reckless and exhilarating skill as if—it was a strange thought to come into a child's mind — he were trying to escape from something” — This excerpt appeals to the sense of anxiety which is strange to Marvin. He doesn’t know the life different to the one in Colony as the artificial world brings only artificial feelings. This trip is bringing something new into his heart. We can guess that people are still strangers on this land, and despite the fact that they have been settled here, it is not their home, they do not feel safe and want to go back.
The Wonders Far Away
“There in that shining crescent were all the wonders that he had never known — the hues of sunset skies, the moaning of the sea on pebbled shores, the patter of falling rain, the unhurried benison of snow”— These lines trigger our imaginations and create a very bright image after the darkness and shade before. It is intensified by the gradual appearance of light after the mountains. The “wonders” are described briefly, but such amount of words is sufficient to ask for a wondering and following the author’s reference of protecting of our heritage. They are simple for us, but such a simplicity is great when compared to man-made Colony.
