Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed

This article is about the Ray Bradbury short story. For the now defunct London science fiction bookshop, see Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (bookshop).

"Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury. It was originally published in the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories in August 1949. It was subsequently included in the short-story collections A Medicine for Melancholy and S is for Space.

The story takes place in the near-future on Mars, as is the case with many of Bradbury's stories.

Plot

An atomic war on Earth has caused the Bittering family, natives of Boston; Harry, Cora, and their children, Tim, Laura, and David; to flee, joining the small population of humans who have colonized a somewhat terraformed Mars. Shortly after their arrival, Harry decides he wants to go back to Earth, as Mars is too different from Earth. Unfortunately, a nuclear bomb hits New York City destroying the ships, making the Bitterings stranded on Mars.

Uneasily settling into their new environment, Harry begins to notice subtle changes to the plants and animals. (The family dairy cow has grown a third horn and the grass is now purple and notices the plants.) Harry also begins to notice that the people in town are referring to local mountain ranges in the martian language, easily unsettling him. Upon realizing there is something seriously wrong, Harry becomes scared of living on Mars, and although his wife and children think nothing of it, Harry begins to suspect a Martian virus that is in the soil they grow their crops in, making them act like Martians. While his family begins to fear his sanity, Harry begins eating only frozen food that was grown on Earth in his deep freeze. Unfortunately, that runs out quickly, and Harry quickly grows desperate, buying the metal and blueprints for a rocket to transport himself and his family home to Earth, despite the imminent danger and the nagging doubt that he will not be able to build a sturdy rocket, he tries to convince some of his friends to help him build the rocket and return home, but they laugh and talk about him. Harry gets into several arguments with them, but oddly enough, they never raise their voices.Houses are melted because the sun melted them.

Harry's boy, Tim, wants to be called a Martian name (Linnl), and he himself is using Martian words (iorrt for Earth). In the meantime, Harry and his family become very dark skinned, tall, thin, and golden-eyed. Harry slowly stops resisting the change, and he is convinced that they, along with the rest of the colonists, should spend the rest of the summer in the cool Martian villas, (ancient martian mansions in the hills) where they can swim in the water canals. They eventually become Martians, and stay in the villas because that is where they "belong". After a time in the hills, the colonists completely forget about their human origins and transform completely into Martians. This is implied when Harry notices their old homes and remarks how the "Earthlings' " houses are built silly.

At the end of the story a group of American G.I. astronauts arrive a few years later to tell the human colonists that the war on Earth is over and rescue them, but there are no humans left, only the buildings and a rusted rocket. Instead, they find Martians, and at first suspect the Martians may have killed the colonists, but then they realize the Martians are too friendly for that. The astronauts conclude that a plague wiped out the colonists and make plans to recolonize Mars, even naming the mountains after famous things from Earth, implying that they too will be changed. The ending is a foreboding feeling that what happened to the Bitterings will soon happen to these new colonists and so forth.