The Martian
Andy Weir (2014)
“A stranded astronaut does math to stay alive on Mars, and makes you laugh while he does it.”
EraContemporary
Pages369
Difficulty★★☆☆☆ Moderate
AP Appearances1
Character Analysis
Botanist and mechanical engineer, the most junior member of the Ares III crew. His defining characteristic is not genius but tenacity — he is smart enough to solve each problem and stubborn enough to keep solving after repeated catastrophic setbacks. His humor is not decoration; it is a cognitive survival strategy, a way of maintaining psychological coherence in conditions designed to produce despair. Watney's log voice — colloquial, profane, technically precise — is the novel's greatest formal achievement.
How They Speak
Colloquial, profane, self-deprecating. Shifts to technical register when solving problems. Uses humor as a constant verbal tic.