The story in one page
Emil Barton has spent sixty years waiting for a rocket from Earth that never comes. On his eightieth birthday, the silence of Mars is shattered by a ringing telephone. The caller is Barton himself, or rather, a complex system of automated tapes and electronic eyes he built in his youth to provide companionship. Instead of comfort, the young Barton provides only mockery, reminding the old man of his wasted life and impending death. When a real rescue ship finally lands a thousand miles away, the old man’s cynicism and decaying health collide with his machines in a final, lethal fit of rage.
Who's who
- Emil Barton
An eighty-year-old man dying of loneliness and heart failure on Mars.
- The Tapes
Electronic recordings of Barton's younger self that react to specific stimuli.
- Captain Leonard Rockwell
The commander of Earth Rocket 48 who finally reaches Mars.
- The Robots
A mechanical population Barton built and later marched into a canal.
What it's really about
- Isolation
- Total solitude turns self-reflection into a literal, haunting dialogue.
- Obsolescence
- Technology outlasts the human need and the human himself.
Why it's memorable
- A rusting army of robots standing in rows beneath the waters of a Martian canal.
- The old man ripping telephone wires like red confetti in a blind, terminal rage.
The ending, explained
Spoilers — show the ending
Barton dies of a heart attack while smashing the phones; meanwhile, a relay connects two tapes, leaving two recorded versions of his youth to congratulate each other in the empty city.
For your book club
- The cruelty of youth is preserved in amber through the automated recording system.
- The tragedy lies in Barton finally receiving his rescue and refusing to believe it.