The Martian Chronicles

Spender represents the extents of human compassion carried into extremist violence. Spender’s identification with the Martian species confirms that Bradbury believes a communion is possible, though Spender’s total arc suggests at the pessimism with which he viewed its actualization. Spender’s initial role seems to be that of Bradbury’s mouthpiece, framing his skepticism of humanity’s colonialist endeavor though extended dialogues with Wilder, as well as proposing Bradbury’s theories of what constitutes a perfect society, and how humans have strayed from that model.

The fullness of Spender’s arc, however, casts doubt over how closely Bradbury identified with Spender’s totalizing philosophy. In this sense, Spender is no different than many of the settlers who arrive on Mars, filled with hope and awe and their own ideologies for how life should be conducted. Spender hates the coarse markers of humanity and cannot stand the boorish behavior of those around him, instead imagining a perfection he cannot confirm in a species he has no direct access to, and this leads him to commit unimaginable violence in the service of his ideal. Spender, in the end, comes to stand for the path of radicalization, how the human mind, unfettered by social responsibility and community, can convince itself of reprehensible ideas and utilize violence for an ideological end.