Burroughs Not Marinettis Futurist Essay -- Literary Analysis

The potentials of the new technology created in the early 20th century created a variety of reactions with in society. Some people embraced the changes, others resisted the developments, and tranquil others fell somewhere in between. Filippo Tommaso Marinettis piece, The futuristic Manifesto, embraces the quick transformation of society. His world is composed of fast, powerful machines and strong, young citizens. The Manifesto likewise depicts an aggressive, violent, and unjust world that is devoid of any morals. Edgar Rice Burroughs is a nonher source whose work, A Princess of Mars, addresses the future and its possibilities. It is the story of John Carter, an American Civil contend Veteran, who is mysteriously transported to Mars or Barsoom and goes through a series of trials and triumphs with the diverse Martian natives. It may initially appear to fit Marinettis mess of the future because it takes place on a nonher planet, there is advanced technology, and the ferocity i s prevalent on the planet. However, Burroughs is actually critiquing the very qualities that Marinetti praises. For instance, Burroughs discredits the use of military force for violence sake and the lack of a family unit. He also recognizes pestilential potentials of technology, which is something that Marinetti does not take into consideration for the future. After careful analysis, it can be laid that Burroughs is not one of the Futurists that Marinetti describes. Upon first inspection, Burroughs mindset seems in accordance with Marinettis Futurist world. Burroughs protagonist, John Carter, appears to physically fit Marinettis ideal Futurist because he is large at six feet, two inches, he is strong, and he remains relatively young at thirty years old. Yout... ..., Marinetti does not express dubiety rather he presents a future with interminable possibilities. In contrast, it was very unsettling for many people to not know what was waiver to happen in the future. In modern tim es we have go through the advances of technology that Marinetti mentions, such as exploring space, but we have also seen its destructive capabilities in the atom bomb. Today, there isnt as a spectacular of a feeling of uncertainty because of inventions like the Internet. Alas, with the diminishing feeling of uncertainty also comes the waning experience of wonder and intrigue of what the future is release to hold for us. Works CitedBurroughs, Edgar Rice. A Princess of Mars. 1917. New York Penguin Books, 2007. Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso, The Futurist Manifesto. 1909. Italian Fascisms. ed.Adrian Lyttleton. London Cape, 1973. pp. 209-215.