The Illustrated Man
The Illustrated Man (1951) is a book of science fiction short stories by Ray Bradbury that explore the nature of humankind. The stories are mostly unrelated, but many demonstrate how technology can destroy mankind. The scenarios are broken up into 18 different stories.
The stories are played out through various scenarios in the moving tattoos on a vagrant's body. The device of "the illustrated man" serves as a frame story for all the unrelated tales. All but one of the stories had been previously published elsewhere, although Bradbury revised some of the texts.
- "The Veldt" Two parents use an artificial "nursery" to keep their children happy. The children use the high-tech simulation nursery to create a sadistic African predatorial environment. When the parents threaten to take it away, the children lock their parents inside where they are killed by the "harmless" devices of the nursery.
- "Kaleidoscope" A bitter astronaut feels he has accomplished nothing worthwhile in his life before his, and the rest of his crew's demise in outerspace because of a malfunction in their ship. The story illustrates the collapse of the sanity and logic of the crew members as they face their death. Ultimately the lamenting narrarator is incinerated in the atmosphere of the Earth and appears as a shooting star to a child after wishing his life would be worth something for someone else.
- "The Other Foot"
- "The Highway"
- "The Man"
- "The Long Rain" A group of astronauts are stranded on Venus, where it rains heavily and without stop. The travelers make there way across the Venetian landscape to find a "sun dome", a shelter with a large artificial light source. On the way the characters are driven to madness by the rain, and when they reach the sun dome, it is destroyed. The story displays the members of the group losing their sanity, and eventually some being driven to suicide by the unrelenting rhythm of the rain.
- "The Rocket Man" An astronaut's job keeps him away from home for long stretches of time, so he has little time with his spouse and to help raise his son. This story is told from the son's perspective. This story served as the inspiration for Elton John's popular song "Rocket Man".
- "The Fire Balloons" A priest travels to Mars to act as a missionary to Martians. Once there he discovers that the natives are actually entities of pure energy. Since they lack corporeal form, they are unable to commit sin, and thus do not need redemption.
- "The Last Night of the World"
- "The Exiles"
- "No Particular Night or Morning"
- "The Fox and the Forest"
- "The Visitor"
- "The Concrete Mixer"
- "Marionettes, Inc."
- "The City"
- "Zero Hour"
- "The Rocket"
The book was made into a 1969 film starring Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom. It was adapted by Howard B. Kreitsek and directed by Jack Smight.