The Illustrated Man

Saul Williams wakes up on Mars. He has been quarantined because of a fatal respiratory disease called blood rust, which causes bloody coughing. He tries to imagine being back in New York City but cannot. He unsuccessfully tries to commit suicide by telling his heart to stop, but he does not have “the nerve” to try more drastic means (169).

He starts a conversation with another quarantined man whose illness is farther advanced. The man wants to talk about philosophy with Saul but is too weak. He tells Saul in six months all he will want is sleep. For now, Saul wants only to be back on Earth: “I want it so bad it hurts. I want something I can never have again” (171).

A rocket lands on Mars. Despite his poor condition, Saul runs up to it and meets 18-year-old Leonard Mark. Sensing that Saul wants to see New York, Leonard suddenly creates an exact replica of it around him; Leonard has telepathic powers. Saul is overjoyed to meet him. When he wishes he could swim in a creek he loved as a child, Leonard replicates that for him too. Leonard refuses Saul’s gifts and attempts to pay him: “I’m doing it,” he says, “to make you happy” (174).