Burroughs Not Marinettis Futurist Essay -- Literary Analysis

The potentials of the new technology created in the early twentieth century created a variety of reactions with in society. Some people embraced the changes, others resisted the developments, and still others fell somewhere in between. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s piece, â€Å"The Futurist Manifesto†, embraces the rapid transformation of society. His world is composed of fast, powerful machines and strong, young citizens. The Manifesto also depicts an aggressive, violent, and unjust world that is devoid of any morals. Edgar Rice Burroughs is another author whose work, A Princess of Mars, addresses the future and its possibilities. It is the story of John Carter, an American Civil War Veteran, who is mysteriously transported to Mars or Barsoom and goes through a series of trials and triumphs with the different Martian natives. It may initially appear to fit Marinetti’s vision of the future because it takes place on another planet, there is advanced technology, and the violence is prevalent on the planet. However, Burroughs is actually critiquing the very qualities that Marinetti praises. For instance, Burroughs discredits the use of violence for violence sake and the lack of a family unit. He also recognizes destructive potentials of technology, which is something that Marinetti does not take into consideration for the future. After careful analysis, it can be determined that Burroughs is not one of the Futurists that Marinetti describes. Upon first inspection, Burroughs’ mindset seems in accordance with Marinetti’s Futurist world. Burroughs’ protagonist, John Carter, appears to physically fit Marinetti’s 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 uncertainty; rather he presents a future with limitless possibilities. In contrast, it was very unsettling for many people to not know what was going to happen in the future. In modern times we have experienced 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 isn’t as a great 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 going to hold for us. Works Cited Burroughs, Edgar Rice. A Princess of Mars. 1917. New York: Penguin Books, 2007. Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso, â€Å"The Futurist Manifesto†. 1909. Italian Fascisms. ed. Adrian Lyttleton. London: Cape, 1973. pp. 209-215.